GNT #005: 5 of My Favorite Tools for Creating Content

Read time: 3.5 minutes

It used to be pelts, then gold, then oil - and today, attention is the new currency.

But to gain attention at scale, you need to create consistent, valuable content catered your audience that is educational, entertaining, challenging, or empathizing.

Expertise + Visibility + Trust = Monetization

In order to create content efficiently, you need to the right tools.

And if you're anything like me, you want cost-effective tools that help you do more with less time.

As I created content for both clients and myself over the years, I sometimes faced major content creation burnout.

These tools help me keep my content engines humming.

And, they cost less per month than two large Chai Tea Lattes from your favorite coffee establishment. 😉

Here are 5 of my favorite tools for creating content, and their costs.

(Fyi, these are not affiliate links. Just sharing knowledge.)

1. My go-to templates for creating content: Typeshare

I started using Typeshare for my own content creation and I'm absolutely loving it.

I also recommend it to clients that are creating content in-house and don't have a copy writer.

Here's why:

It's a great starting point for getting your ideas and knowledge into a format that's easy for your audience to consume.

No more looking at a blank screen. Or writing streams of run-on sentences without a framework.

It's not going to give you the perfect title or the exact content, but it gets you moving in the right directly quickly.

Before using this, have your content calendar in place with topics you know your audience cares about.

Use it for awhile. Copy the templates that work for you in your own private swipe file.

Price: $10/month

2. Bulk scheduling social posts: Publer

There are many social media publishing tools out there. I've used a lot of them.

Publer is my tool of choice right now for scheduling LinkedIn and Twitter posts because it's easy to use, there are a lot of scheduling options, advanced features, and analytics.

It's sometimes clunky adding @tags. And at some point I'll probably upgrade to a more expensive platform like Hypefury that has more advanced features.

But today, it works great and got me up and running quickly without a huge learning curve.

Price: Free or $12/month for professional that gives you unlimited scheduling & drafts

3. Creating images and infographics fast: Canva

I love Canva and I want to shout it from the rooftops!

It has saved me so much freaking time. I wish I had a tool like this when I first started creating content.

Instead of starting from scratch in Photoshop or InDesign and coming up with OK graphics at best (I'm not a great designer) - I can whip up an awesome, professional image in 3 minutes or less.

You can use pre-built templates for collateral, presentations, social media, videos, you name it.

You can also professionally print right from Canva.

One of my clients let their entire Adobe subscription go because they realized everything was faster and better in Canva.

(Disclaimer: If you're a super professional designer, obviously you might disagree with this. But for the DIYer or scrappy marketer, Canva rocks.)

Price: Free or $12.99/month for stock photos and unlimited features

4. Creating better organized content, faster: ChatGPT

Machines are taking over and we all better find different careers.

Joking.

Actually I've gotten a kick out of testing prompts on ChatGPT to take the scrambled knowledge in my head and help put it into a cohesive and clear structure.

The trick is to provide enough context and detail or examples in the prompt to allow the AI to give you what you're looking for.

Include things like the length of response and your expected format like text or csv.

The biggest thing to remember?

Use the structure as your template (if it indeed makes sense) and your brain to write the details.

Fill in the gaps with your human knowledge.

But in this case, I like my writing better. ↑

Price: Free, for now...

5. My favorite password manager: Bitwarden

15 years ago, I managed all my passwords on a sheet of paper.

Then, I had my car broken into and my precious planner and passwords were gone.

I felt like my life blew up then and there. 

Since then I've tested many, many online password management programs and methods.

Bitwarden is my favorite tool for managing passwords because once it's set up, it's freaking easy and very secure.

I use it across multiple computers and mobile devices.

It has two-factor authentication and you can share passwords across multiple users.

Bitwarden also has extensions for most browsers. I use the Firefox extension and it's super slick.

It makes my life better with all the online platforms I use. It decreases my risk, and it saves me frustration and anxiety.

Price: $3.33 per month, $40 per year for a family plan shared with up to 6 users.

Hope this was helpful. See you again next week!



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