Taking Everyday Life and Turning it into Content

This is going to date me, but I remember doing a post similar to this around 10 years ago when Digg.com was a thing (and a powerful “thing” at that) talking about how a simple post where my 4 year old (at the time) told me to just “Google it”.  It hit the front page of Digg and sent so much traffic to me that it (first, blew my mind) really instilled the power of “social media + content” to me. A friend of mine recently posted this: I can now say with confidence Jon took everyday life, and created content … in the bathroom.  This is exactly what I am talking about though, how many of us have smart phones?  We have one of the most powerful content creators in the palm of our hands. I had a funny exchange with a good bud, Matt McGee where I sent him this picture of a Cardinal: To which he replied: I thought it was funny, so of course I used it as content and posted it: I understand that this is me, personally and not a brand, but I do have a personal brand and that is not even the main point here (if that is the conclusion you drew).  The point here is to take everyday situations like this that happen, that you may not have thought of to use, but that can absolutely be used as content for your business and business social channels. I am using things like this all the time, for example Jolly Rancher tweeted my daughter and she was so excited about it.  BOOM – Content!  So of course I included it in a slide deck about community building for a conference where I talked about how they did it right, and created a brand advocate for life with her because of it. Some of the tools (or apps) I keep on my phone to help me with content creation (in life situations) include:
  • MemeCreator App (paid version – cmon its cheap, only 99 cents)
  • SmugMug
  • GiantSquare
  • PhotoPills (more for photography)
  • PhotoBlur
  • Over
  • Moments
Some things that we have done at Avalaunch Media to encourage more of this exact kind of content creation was to put a huge Yeti mural up in our office.  One where people who come to the office would want to take a picture with and share on “the socials”. I think the more of “these type of things” you can do to get your social channels “active is a great thing.  One of the things I have seen my good bud, Will Scott do over at Search Influence is give banners to years employees have been at the company, and of course they post them all over social media! Again, they are using their smart phone and are not having to make this content creation more complicated than it is. What an awesome idea for content creation, and it also shows how people enjoy to work there (as it shows off their years at the company).   Other Agency brands (I follow) that are doing this kind of stuff amazingly well, to give you some additional ideas: Of course this type of content creation is only one OF MANY tactics, but it is a great start for figuring out your social media content and filling up a content calendar. Some Avalaunch Media team members share:
I keep a running list in my notes on my phone of funny experiences during the day that can be used as future Tweets. I know… embarrassing right?! 🙂 #MomFails or #MomoftheYear worthy Tweets or professional tidbits that I find interesting. Experiences that are relatable or outrageous usually get the highest response. In my opinion, engaging content iseverywhere, but must first be identified and then presented in an engaging format. (via Britnee) –
I agree that the phone is a mighty content producing machine but you have to be looking for the content and the “golden nuggets” around you in order to capture them and use them for content that is relevant to a given topic.
Another thought… Pablo Picasso said, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” 
The reason this is relevant is because all of art has been inspired by one thing or another. People can be inspired by the ordinary and mundane as well as the amazing and innovative. Each person sees things differently and is inspired differently. It is about taking that inspiration from those ideas and making it your own. (@madelynevanhoff)
I’d love to see some examples of this type of content shared in the comments, and thoughts on this.  Hit me with your best stuff! Finally, a super big hat-tip to my bud, Dave Rohrer for giving me this post idea through a conversation we had.    

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