One of the questions I get asked most often is how I create a ton of content and be consistently sharing on social media whilst still remaining unbound.
From the outside, it might look like I’m working all the hours. I run two businesses, nicolahumber.com, which hosts programs like the Unbound Writing Mastermind and GLOW, and The Unbound Press, the soul-led publishing imprint for unbound women writing world-changing books. Plus, I write my own books (the latest one, Unbound Writing, is out in October).
Despite this I don’t spend all my time at my desk churning out content. Most weeks I spend around 20-25 hours actually working in my business. I need plenty of downtime, I want to honour the ebbs and flows of my cyclical nature and spaciousness is a key quality for me.
So, how do I make this work? And how do I plan what I’m going to share and when?
That’s what I’m going to share with you in this article, unbound one. I know that a lot of magical beings, like you, can feel overwhelmed when it comes to sharing their work. It’s all too easy to end up swinging between being a content-creating machine and feeling like you need to be ‘on’ 24/7, to retreating completely and not sharing anything for weeks, or months on end. I get it, because I’ve been there! I’ve been in business for over ten years now and it’s really only this year that I feel I’ve found my rhythm with this stuff.
My intention with taking you behind-the-scenes of my process is that you’ll feel inspired to find your own unique way of consistently sharing your magic. There are no rights and wrongs here, so take what works for you and absolutely leave anything that doesn’t.
Are you ready? Let’s dive in:
MY OVERALL APPROACH
Cyclical
As I’ve already mentioned, it’s important for me to honour my cyclical nature when it comes to creating and sharing content. This is one of the five principles of living unbound and I’ve learned from hard experience that it’s not possible for me to be showing up in the same way, day in day out.
For example, as I’m writing this we’ve just experienced a super-powerful full moon (plus we’re in Leo season) and I’ve had ideas for content coming out of my ears! Seriously, I’ve felt like my head might explode over the past few days as one idea after another comes through (including the hit to write this blog).
Because I’ve been working in alignment with my cyclical nature for the past seven years or so, I know that I tend to get a few days each month when I’m on fire creatively and the ideas are free-flowing. So, rather than having an expectation that I’ll feel like this ALL of the time, or trying to implement and share every single idea immediately, I make a note of what comes through (sometimes in a notebook, sometimes I record voice notes on my phone) and I can use all of this as inspiration as I move through the rest of the month.
Over to you: If you don’t already, over the next 30 days keep a note each day about how your energy ebbs and flows according to your own personal menstrual cycle (if you have one) and the cycle of the moon. When do you feel most creative? When do you feel more in planning mode? Are there times when you want to retreat and others when you’re happy to be sharing freely?
Start to use this cyclical intel to create a content plan that works for you.
Follow the breadcrumbs
Often I’m inspired by something a client says or asks during a 1:1 session or in a group call and I’ll make a note of it and use this as a basis to create some kind of content – this might be a blog (this one was inspired by one of the members of the Unbound Writing Mastermind asking about my content plan), a podcast episode, an Instagram story, a social media post, a video or an email to my unbound community.
I need spaciousness for ideas to drop in, so I take myself for a daily walk in nature and often I’ll receive some inspiration then.
Although I keep a bank of ideas, I don’t usually create content more than a week or so in advance, because I want the energy to be fresh, for me and whoever sees/hears it.
I never create content for the sake of it. I have to feel inspired and activated in some way by what I’m sharing, because that’s how I want others to feel when they connect with it.
Over to you: Are you leaving space for fresh ideas to drop in? Over the next seven days, consciously create some space in your day. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, move away from your desk and start to notice those breadcrumbs of inspiration.
Don’t overthink it, act quickly
As I mentioned above, although it might look like I’m super-productive, in reality I have plenty of space in my days. But what I do do is act quickly. If an idea drops in, I don’t spend days or weeks thinking about it. I’ve learned to trust those breadcrumbs of inspiration and follow them in each moment.
For example, if I get an idea for something I want to share when I’m out on a walk and it feels like it wants to be communicated via video, I’ll record it right there and then if I can. This might mean that it’s not ‘perfect’ (the other day I stopped to record something and noticed I had a mark on my face from some charcoal that was on the table I was sitting at), but it’s more important for me to share the magic and express myself than it is to wait until I feel it can be 100% (because that time will never come!)
Rather than trying to figure it all out in my head, I trust that I’m being guided when it comes to what I’m meant to share and follow that. If I start to overthink it, I’ll never get around to taking action and I’m committed to making an impact, so I want to be in momentum.
Over to you: For the next three days, experiment with taking fast action when you feel inspired. Just try this out – choose to trust yourself and act from that place of trust. Notice how this feels and the response you receive.
Support
Over the past year, support has been a big theme for me. After starting The Unbound Press in November 2018 and running that alongside my existing business, I knew that I couldn’t continue to do it all on my own.
So, since the beginning of 2020 a magical team has been assembling behind-the-scenes, all of whom are actually The Unbound Press authors. Jo Gifford has come on board to support me with creating content specifically focused on the Unbound Writing process and The Unbound Press and Sarah Lloyd is connecting the dots when it comes to PR.
This has made life a WHOLE lot more easeful when it comes to content and marketing. I know not everyone is in a position to hire support (believe me, this has been a LONG time coming), but even if you can get someone to help you for a couple of hours a month, it’s amazing the difference it makes, both practically and energetically.
Over to you: How could you allow yourself to be more supported? Think of one area around content and marketing where you’d like some help and take one small step towards that. If you’re not in a position to hire someone right now, why not buddy up with a friend and mastermind ideas with them. When we come together, we become more!
THE UNBOUND PLAN
Okay, so that’s some background to my approach and how I’ve arrived at where I am now. Time for some detail! How do I decide what to share and when to share it?
I used to very much ‘go with the flow’ and I still do to a large extent, but there are now three main pillars that I use to share content: The Unbound Writer’s Club Podcast, the Living Unbound show on Wellbeing Radio and my newsletter.
Around these three main pillars, I sprinkle other content using Instagram stories, posts on Instagram and Facebook and occasional blogs (like this one!). Jo also writes a weekly blog for The Unbound Press website, which is either focused on one of our authors or about the Unbound Writing process.
Podcast
I knew that I wanted to start a podcast this year and that it would be about writing. I initially thought that it would be made up of interviews with other writers, but through listening to other podcasts I enjoy from people like Tara Newman and (our very own!) Jo Gifford, I realised that I’d like to include solo episodes as well. As much as I enjoy writing, making videos and doing lives, there’s something about just speaking into a mic and allowing the words to flow.
I’ve created a podcast before, but I knew this time that I wanted it to be as easeful as possible, so I asked Jo to support me with this. I record a weekly episode – I use Audacity if it’s just me and Zoom if it’s an interview – and then I share the MP3 with Jo along with any editing notes and links that need to be included with the show notes. (When I say ‘editing notes’, honestly I tend to leave everything in. If I mix up my words or forget what I was going to say, so be it. It’s unbound after all and it’s important for me to model being perfectly imperfect!)
Jo then gets the episode ready and uploads it to Buzzsprout which we use to host The Unbound Writer’s Club (this feeds through to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher). She also uploads it to Soundcloud and creates a blog page on The Unbound Press website with a graphic.
We release a new episode every Wednesday and share it on The Unbound Press page on Insta and Facebook. I also email my unbound community to let them know about it on the day it’s released.
In terms of deciding what to talk about on the podcast, at the moment I’m being guided by whatever the monthly theme is in the Unbound Writing Mastermind. Right now that’s abundance, so this month I’m recording two solo episodes around accessing abundance through your writing and I’m also interviewing two of The Unbound Press authors whose work ties into this.
As well as The Unbound Press authors, in future episodes I’ll also be interviewing members of the Unbound Writing Mastermind. Community is super-important to me and so I love having a platform where I can share the magic of all the unbound writers I get to work with.
Radio Show
This year I also got the opportunity to host a radio show on Wellbeing Radio. At first, I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to do this in addition to the podcast, but PR magician Sarah Lloyd helped me to see that whereas The Unbound Writer’s Club is focused specifically on writing, the radio show could be a place to talk about healing the inner good girl and being unbound more generally. Hence, Living Unbound was born!
To keep things simple, I tend to use chapters from either Heal Your Inner Good Girl or UNBOUND as inspiration for Living Unbound each week. I generally record a new episode on a Thursday and tune into what subject feels good for that week. Again I use Audacity and once recorded it gets passed over to the team at Wellbeing to edit and get ready for release on Monday at 2pm Eastern, 7pm UK time.
I’ll usually either record a short video or write a post around the same subject that I’m talking about, so I can share that on the day the show goes out.
(I tend to record both podcast episodes and the radio show at the same time, so everything is set up with my mic and I’m in the flow. I generally leave Thursdays and Fridays free of calls, so I can focus on content-creation these days.)
Newsletter
I’ve had a newsletter that I send out to my subscribers since the earliest days in my business. Over the years, it’s shifted and changed a LOT. Sometimes I’ve been super-regular and other times it’s been more inconsistent.
This year, I’ve very much fallen back in love with my newsletter and it goes out regularly, every Sunday morning. This feels really good for me, as I get the whole week to feel into what I want to share rather than scrambling to write something when I’m in-between calls.
I’ve also landed on a format that works for me this year, so I always write a personal note at the beginning before sharing links to the content from that week (usually the podcast and radio show). Then I share anything I’ve seen or listened to during the week that I feel the unbound community might enjoy and finally I give a heads up about what’s happening in either the Unbound Writing Mastermind or GLOW in the week ahead.
Having this format really helps to take any overwhelm out of writing and curating my newsletter, as I can simply slot in the different sections. I tend to write it on a Friday and when it comes to the personal note at the beginning, I pretty much always ask: ‘What would be most beneficial for me to share this week?’ and just start to write.
Over to you: Rather than trying to do ALL the things when it comes to creating and sharing content what might be the pillar or pillars that you choose to build around? What do you most enjoy when it comes to being visible? What feels most easeful for you?
Give yourself permission to focus on between one and three pillars and create a simple plan around that.
Phew, magical one! This is turning out to be a long one, right?! Let me start to wrap it up for you.
Social media
When it comes to social media, because I have my three pillars in place, I find that it’s now easier for me to ebb and flow with this and give myself permission to only share when I feel inspired. I love using Insta stories, because I enjoy the in-the-moment immediacy of them. Stories is also a great place to be sharing posts from other magical beings that are inspiring me.
When it comes to actually posting, Instagram is my preference over Facebook, but I do post on both. Jo tends to handle The Unbound Press posts and I create them for my own work. Sometimes I might post every day and other times, once a week.
I’m ‘trying’ to be mindful of the time I spend online, particularly scrolling! The aim is to only go onto social two to three times a day and to use it intentionally. This is a work in progress and I definitely find it easier at certain stages of my cycle. (Around full moon, I find it hard to stay away!)
What I want to do more of…
Something I’d like to do more of moving forward is be more proactive about being a guest on other people’s podcasts. I did Jo Casey’s awesome Attract Clients With Podcasts course earlier this year and I want to start using what I learned to reach new audiences. (Want to interview me? You can check out my media kit here).
Apart from that I’m pretty happy with how things are flowing right now. Doing the work that I truly love has made a huge difference when it comes to creating content, as has giving myself permission to focus on some key things and letting go of the ‘shoulds’.
So, how about you, unbound one? What one action are you inspired to take from reading this article? Message me on Insta or Facebook and let me know!
And if you want to share your message in a way that has an impact and feels good for you, come join us in my GLOW visibility group for writers, healers, coaches and mentors. Find out more and get started over here.
