It’s a busy time of year – we’re setting resolutions, goals, picking our word for the year, reviewing 2016 (read this post + grab your worksheets if you need some guidance!), and the list goes on. We want to create more, do more, connect more, make more….whew, day one and I’m a little exhausted!

We often seem to forget what’s already in front of us. How can you do more with what you have? What can you make better or grow bigger? Where can you deepen relationships?

At my company (the real day job), when challenged with making up lost sales for the year, the team instinctively reached out for new opportunities and vendors to add. While those can certainly add new excitement, it also takes a lot of work to set up new programs and connect with new vendors; plus its not even a guarantee that the product will perform any better than what’s already in store!

So I was left wondering – why not expand what’s already working? Why not take something we already have and make that bigger or send out to more stores? While it’s not the exact formula, I think the thought process is similar to the argument that the cost of acquiring a new customer versus retaining a current one can be 4-10x higher! And I’d be willing to bet you’d agree that making new friends, fostering new relationships and creating or finding new work to feature is definitely more time + resource consuming than maximizing what’s currently at your disposal, right?

So for today and the first half of the year, the focus is on how to do more with what you have in order to take action in your business. Yes, of course, some of that will need to result in creating new blog posts and making new connections; but my hope is that I can more strategically build upon my current foundation, rather than reach and reach for the next new thing.

25+ Ways To Do More With What You Have

 

Instagram

 

1. Engage with current followers.

Go through your current followers and leave genuine comments, questions or encouragement for 5-10 people a week.

2. Schedule re-posts of images tagged with your brand’s “hashtag”

This is an easy way to consistently share new content on Instagram, without having to create new content, plus it shows your followers + fans that you appreciate them sharing your brand story and are engaged with them and how they use your product. If you don’t already have one, now would be a perfect time to create one for your brand!

Use Latergramme to schedule posts in advance. (Free scheduling tool, plus if you sign up through this link we each earn an additional 10 posts/month!)

3. Check out the websites and businesses of your followers + those you follow.

How can you help support them? Look for potential collaborations or interview opportunities, local meet ups, or sharing their content on other social media like Twitter or Pinterest.

4. If you like what you see – follow your favorite followers back!

You likely don’t have a chance to review every single person that connects with you, so take some time to check them out, you never know, you might just find your new business bestie.

5. For those you follow, go find them on the other social media communities you’re a part of.

So often I’m completely in love (I swear safely in a distant, business-only 🙂 way) with someone and still forget to go check them out elsewhere. Find them on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, etc. – not only does that strengthen your relationship with them since you’ll see all facets of their brand, but often they’ll also take notice of this person that just started following all their accounts! I’ve had it happen a few times and that person always piques my interest as someone to check out.

 

Related Post: How to Find the Best Hashtags for Your Business (plus 70+ hashtag ideas)

Blog Posts

 

1. Update or add new blog graphics to old posts + re-pin on Pinterest.

Not only does this give you “new” content to display on Pinterest, but it will also likely better reflect your current branding and can be a chance to test a new format to see how the image performs. With Pinterest being a highly visual resource, updating old post images can yield huge returns. I recently updated my first few posts and this is now my top performing pin with over 50 re-pins after being picked up + pinned by a couple larger accounts! (You can read about my mini-viral story here!)

(Curious about how to find your top re-pins? Check out this great post from Chloe Social on Everything You Need to Know About Pinterest Analytics)

2. Add new information you’ve learned or research found to further pump up past posts.

If we’re doing business right, we’re always learning + growing, so put that new info to use and update old blog posts to turn a so-so article into a truly amazing resource.

3. Update an old article.

Let’s all admit our first go arounds or initial blog posts had great intent, but were not really our best work. We’ve learned a lot and have grown since then, so while the idea was probably good, the execution could have been a little off. Use that to your advantage – rather than create brand new content or come up with new ideas, rework that old post to be something spectacular that better reflects where you’re at currently.

4. Deep Link – Refer to old posts within content.

Go through blog posts and see what information crosses over between them or helps further explain a point you made or referred to in an earlier post and link between posts (like the above 2015 review link).

5. Add “Related Posts” throughout your content.

Include a few old posts that relate to your current post or are follow ups to that content. These don’t need to be written into the flow of your paragraph, but rather can be mini sections to help break up your paragraphs (like the Instagram post link below).

6. Read comments and create a list of new content ideas.

Are there recurring themes or a really interesting comment/question raised from a post? Expand upon it for a new post idea (plus you can link back to that original post or connect with that reader to let them you created an epic resource for them!)

7. Create a ‘mega resource’ or list post.

Chances are you’ve written a few articles from a variety of angles on some key topics – create a post that pulls all that information together for one great resource on all things “Twitter” for example, or create a list post that consolidates all information into one key list to work through (both great places to link around within your blog). Plus, list posts are incredibly popular on social media + Pinterest, and you’re basically creating it “for free” in terms of idea + content creation since your work is already done. Win-Win!

8. Update or add keywords.

Keywords take some time, but they are fantastic for SEO. Go through old posts and ensure you’re using a good long-tail keyword, better thought of as a phrase or short description that people would actually search for and type into Google. Lauren from Elle & Co. has a great post on creating SEO-rich content that I recommend reading.

9. Re-work content into a new format.

Create a webinar, podcast, ebook, infographic, online course, Instagram series, 30DayChallenge, ETC, ETC. Start with your top performing posts and see how you can expand upon or present in a new way. According to research, articles with videos perform 3x better than text-only posts and customers are 73% more likely to purchase after watching a product video.

10. Create an archive or ‘start here’ page for your best categories or top posts.

This can be an easy way to group together similar content or how you’d hope a new reader might work through and use your posts to learn about your business.

Twitter

 

1. Go through current people you follow and and create Twitter lists.

This will help categorize those your follow so you can better interact and be strategic with your time.

2. Check out the websites and businesses of those that follow you + those you follow.

How can you help support them? Share their content, provide some encouragement, ask a question, or simply interact (comment or re-tweet) with a recent tweet!

3. If you like them – follow your favorites back!

Better yet – follow and leave a short comment on a recent tweet that resonates with you. A little compliment thrown their way can’t hurt either 🙂

4. Find Twitter chats to participate in.

You’re likely following a few people who either host or take part in weekly chats – check out one they’re in and let them know you were inspired to try your first chat because of them!

5. Same as Instagram #5 above, go find those you follow on their other social media accounts.

Check out their website, leave a comment or simply re-tweet one of their recent posts.

6. Revisit your old posts and schedule out multiple tweets to bring focus to past blog articles.

Check out this post for tips on how often to schedule + ideas to vary your wording for each tweet.

7. Review the tweets you’ve “liked” on Twitter.

Any to re-tweet or schedule for later? Often I’ll like something as a reminder to retweet it later, especially if I’ve already posted something recently, as I try not to tweet more than once an hour. Or are there new accounts that you didn’t follow the first time that are worth exploring more?  (To view your Likes: Go to your profile – click LIKES on the right side)

Pinterest

 

1. Look into the websites and businesses of those you follow.

Find them on other social media platforms or reach out for partnership opportunities.

2. Go through your top re-pinned content and look at “related pins”.

Since they’re your most re-pinned items, you know that’s what your audience is interested in and the “related pins” section will easily show you similar pins – saving you time. (Related Pins are right below the pin & account information, click on a pin and scroll down; most will have them provided the topic is broad enough or has enough similar content online).

3. Check out your followers and follow back any relevant accounts for your business that are sharing quality pins.

I love finding people to follow this way on Pinterest, but I do stress following only those accounts who pin content (including the type of images) that you would want to read + re-share, otherwise your home feed will just become cluttered with content you’re uninterested in or aren’t willing to share if the images don’t fit your aesthetic.

4. Re-purpose all the great content you have curated on Pinterest.

Go through your pins and schedule your favorite ones to be shared on Twitter, be sure to @ tag the business owner – they may check you out, retweet or become a follower!

5. Same as #5’s above, go find those you follow on their other social media accounts.

You can always leave a short IG comment or tweet that you love their Pinterest account and are happy to connect with them here!

6. Join the #BizPinChallenge

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of constantly pinning all these amazing blog posts, checklists, and strategic content, only to NEVER return to the pin and actually work through the article. Seriously – how many *must read* blog posts do you have saved, pinned, or emailed that you never do anything about? I want to change all that for myself this year and thought some of you may feel the same; so I created the #BizPinChallenge to help categorize and focus my efforts on one topic each month and pick my favorite pins + resources to help us achieve our goals. Does this sound like you too?  Yeah, I thought so… so let’s do something about it – Let’s take action today to move our businesses forward. Join here or follow along on Twitter + Instagram!

Check out the first post Month 1: Branding!

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Shop Talk: How do you re-purpose content or leverage what you already have?

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Images via Rekita Nicole – check out her website here