Ditch The Creator Burnout and Plan Content That Helps You Grow

[00:00] If you're trying to batch a month's

[00:01] worth of content and it's burning you

[00:02] out, stop. After running a marketing

[00:05] agency for the last 7 years where I have

[00:07] helped creators grow to over a million,

[00:09] I can tell you it's the wrong strategy

[00:11] and here's what actually works.

[00:16] Hey, I'm Michelle Gifford. I help you

[00:18] grow your personal brand online,

[00:20] especially with social media. And while

[00:22] I love the creative part of all the

[00:24] things, there is so much strategy that

[00:26] we need to learn and embrace in order to

[00:28] do this long-term. So, in this video I'm

[00:30] going to run through exactly how I plan

[00:32] my content, how I organize every video

[00:34] so nothing gets lost, how I batch, and

[00:37] how I track what's actually working.

[00:38] Because if you skip the last part,

[00:39] you're flying completely blind. Okay,

[00:41] you're going to want to save this one

[00:42] because this is my complete content

[00:44] planning system all in one place. First,

[00:46] let's talk about how much you should be

[00:48] planning in advance. I recommend having

[00:50] a general idea of what you're going to

[00:52] post for the month, but really only dial

[00:54] in to what you're going to be posting

[00:56] for the next 2 weeks. Because Instagram

[00:57] moves so quickly and just because the

[00:59] creative process is what it is, planning

[01:02] out for 30 days and then filming for 30

[01:04] days can feel super overwhelming and so

[01:06] no one ever does it and then it just

[01:07] doesn't work out. So, if we can commit

[01:09] to 2 weeks at a time, you're always

[01:11] ahead enough so, you know, if something

[01:12] comes up with your family or your kids

[01:14] or whatever, that you have some things

[01:16] in the bank, you kind of know what's

[01:18] coming, but you don't have to have a

[01:20] whole content day because most people

[01:22] just don't work like that. So, I call

[01:24] this my 12-post system. It's 2 weeks,

[01:27] six posts a week, and this is how I plan

[01:29] it for me and as well as my clients. The

[01:32] first step is to build a strategy. So, I

[01:34] will set aside an hour of my time.

[01:36] Right? You don't give yourself too long

[01:38] and also you do have to schedule it. I

[01:40] will ask four questions. What are my

[01:42] goals for this month? What am I actually

[01:44] trying to accomplish? Is it emails? Is

[01:46] it growth? Is it am I launching a

[01:48] product? What are the goals for this

[01:50] month? Because every decision after that

[01:52] is going to get filtered through that.

[01:54] The second thing I ask is what do my

[01:56] analytics say? So, our analytics are

[01:59] telling us something. They are letting

[02:01] us know what's working and what's not

[02:02] working. And so, when we look at our

[02:04] analytics, we can see like what are the

[02:06] things that are actually causing us to

[02:07] grow. What pieces of content get us new

[02:09] followers? So, if our goal is to get new

[02:11] followers, we can find those pieces of

[02:12] content and then double down on that

[02:14] content. Then, I'll look at like what

[02:16] did perform well last month? What is not

[02:18] performing well? Why do we think it

[02:20] didn't perform well? Is there something

[02:21] that we need to change? But, analytics

[02:23] gives us information help us us better

[02:26] content going forward. We can't be

[02:27] scared of it. Number three, what do I

[02:29] repeat? If something is working on

[02:31] Instagram, do it again. Lean in. Now,

[02:33] I'm not saying that you need to do like

[02:35] an exact replica, but if you're looking

[02:37] at your piece of content and you every

[02:39] time you do a green screen breaking down

[02:41] a difficult current event and that

[02:43] brings you a ton of followers, keep

[02:45] doing it till it's not working anymore.

[02:47] And if you have something that hasn't

[02:49] brought you a million followers yet, but

[02:51] you have something that your audience

[02:53] loves and you like creating it and

[02:55] something that is building your

[02:56] credibility and you think it has

[02:57] potential to take off and really go

[02:59] viral at some point or at least be that

[03:01] consistent nurturing piece, then keep

[03:03] doing it. So, for example, I have a get

[03:06] ready with me style video where I'm

[03:08] doing my hair and I'm breaking down what

[03:10] I am seeing in the social media industry

[03:12] and I'm breaking down as I'm talking.

[03:14] Now, those are not my most or highest

[03:16] viewed content right now, but the

[03:18] credibility that it adds to my channel

[03:21] is huge and I am getting a lot of

[03:23] positive responses from it. So, I'm

[03:25] going to repeat that. It's not that it's

[03:27] like going viral, but it is something

[03:29] that is doing exactly what I want it to

[03:31] do. And then, the fourth thing I ask is

[03:33] what am I testing out? So, we are going

[03:35] to repeat things that work, but we also

[03:37] need to always have room to test things

[03:39] out that we want to, either different

[03:41] formats or different types of content or

[03:43] different topics. And we have to leave

[03:45] room for that. And when we're analyzing

[03:47] that, I think about does this have

[03:49] potential still? Because you can post

[03:51] once and it not take off, but if you

[03:53] post and post and post something over

[03:55] and over again, then it suddenly takes

[03:56] off and it completely changes your

[03:59] Instagram. So, for example, I have a

[04:01] post that I post every Monday and it's

[04:03] my trends post where I do a roundup of

[04:06] all the trends that are happening on

[04:07] Instagram. Now, I did that for almost 3

[04:09] months before it really got traction. I

[04:11] was doing okay. I'd get some followers

[04:13] here and some likes and shares there,

[04:15] but about 3 months into that is when it

[04:17] really started taking off and I knew

[04:19] that it had great potential to bring in

[04:21] people because I could see the signs. I

[04:23] could see things building, but it took a

[04:25] few months for that. So, with Instagram,

[04:27] we got to allow for that. We have to

[04:28] think about all of these different

[04:29] things that are happening and where we

[04:31] want people to go. Once I've done that

[04:33] analysis, I will bring up my calendar

[04:35] and I will make every post decision

[04:37] around three things. One is the type of

[04:40] content, the topic, and the format. So,

[04:43] types is the container. How are we

[04:45] delivering this? So, it's like is it a

[04:47] reel? Is it a carousel? Is it a single

[04:49] image? Pretty simple. Topics come from

[04:51] your content pillars. So, as you're

[04:54] creating when I build a brand strategy

[04:55] for a client, one of the things we do is

[04:57] we build brand messaging like around

[04:59] what are we trying to accomplish here

[05:01] and how do we speak to our specific

[05:03] audience? And from there, we can pull

[05:06] out like the three to five places of

[05:08] value that we can add to our audience.

[05:10] Then we can pull out three to five

[05:12] topics that are valuable to our audience

[05:14] and that we want to talk about on our

[05:16] Instagram and really own. These are our

[05:18] pillars. These are the pillar types of

[05:20] content. So, mine for example are

[05:22] Instagram news and updates, Instagram

[05:24] strategy, quick posting tips, women

[05:27] empowerment, and marketing breakdowns.

[05:29] And then, from those pillars, I have sub

[05:31] pillars that I have a running list of

[05:33] different topics that I can talk about

[05:35] under each pillar. I recommend doing

[05:37] this. This is something that's super

[05:39] valuable to have and to think through

[05:40] once and then you can use that

[05:42] information as you go forward. Now, if

[05:44] you are like, "Ooh, how do I do this?"

[05:46] Then, you need my custom GPT, this

[05:49] Michelle AI, and I've trained it on all

[05:51] of my frameworks and teachings that I've

[05:53] been teaching and helping people grow

[05:54] with, and you get access to it, and

[05:56] it'll help you build out your brand

[05:58] messaging and your pillars and

[06:00] everything that you need to start

[06:01] posting. Then, we have format. Now,

[06:03] format is basically a Reels decision,

[06:05] and so you're trying So, that's like,

[06:07] how are you presenting the information?

[06:09] Is it a green screen, a talking head? Is

[06:11] it a quick tutorial or quick win? Is it

[06:13] storytelling? Is it B-roll? Is it a

[06:15] voiceover? Is it a POV style? A

[06:18] listicle? A before and after? Is it a

[06:20] this or that comparison? And those are

[06:23] the basic formats that you can choose

[06:24] from. So, if you have your pillar

[06:26] topics, right? And then a list of

[06:28] subtopics under each pillar, and then

[06:30] you have all of these different formats,

[06:32] then you can choose the format that fits

[06:34] best for you. When I'm trying to choose

[06:36] which format, like, is it a green

[06:37] screen? Is it a listicle? I think about,

[06:39] what do I like to create? What do people

[06:42] like to consume? And what makes the most

[06:44] sense with the piece of content that I'm

[06:46] trying to create. So, now I'm going to

[06:48] look at my calendar. The way that I do

[06:50] this is through Airtable. Airtable is a

[06:53] project management system, and I use

[06:55] this for me and my clients. My favorite

[06:57] thing about Airtable is that you can

[06:58] look at things in different views. You

[07:00] can have a view where you look at the

[07:02] calendar, and that's where I start

[07:04] planning this, and then you can have a

[07:05] task view where it's like, okay, what

[07:07] tasks do I have? And then you can look

[07:09] at projects and where is every project

[07:11] on the line to completion. So, now that

[07:14] I have the topics that I want to talk

[07:15] about and the type of content I'm going

[07:17] to create, I'm going to go into my

[07:18] calendar in Airtable, and I'm going to

[07:20] fill out the next 2 weeks. And I will

[07:22] just create a piece of content. I will

[07:24] create like a tab for each piece of

[07:25] content. I'll put the hook. I'll put

[07:27] like what I want to talk about in it,

[07:29] like, a brief description, and then I'll

[07:30] also write the script, if there's a

[07:33] script to write. And then I'll link to

[07:35] any inspiration reel that I have, so

[07:37] that what I want to do in this phase is

[07:39] do all of the heavy like creative work,

[07:42] so that when I'm ready, I can just go in

[07:45] and film, and I don't have to think

[07:47] about anything. I've already thought

[07:48] about the details here, and then when

[07:50] it's time to film stuff, I have

[07:52] everything laid out ready for me to

[07:53] film. So, I will put in as much

[07:55] information as I can in here, and again,

[07:58] this is where I would use some AI.

[07:59] Biggest piece of advice is to get

[08:01] Michelle AI because it can help you with

[08:03] your hooks and your captions, and you

[08:05] can voice message exactly what you want

[08:08] to say in the script, and then it'll

[08:10] polish up the script for you and write

[08:12] that out. So, it really saves a ton of

[08:13] time, and it's doing it with my process,

[08:16] so that it's also strategic. You can do

[08:18] this in a lot of different programs, but

[08:20] I really like airtable because when I'm

[08:22] working on a project, I can put it in

[08:24] the different phase of completion, so

[08:27] that I know what I have to do to film

[08:28] and where my each piece of content is in

[08:31] the process. So, we use this a ton with

[08:33] clients. We run an agency, so it'll be a

[08:35] little bit different for your personal

[08:36] use, but if you run an agency, this is a

[08:38] really great way to do it. But, if

[08:39] you're a solo creator, you can

[08:41] definitely simplify this process. The

[08:43] point here is that every card has a home

[08:46] at every stage of your preparation, and

[08:48] then nothing falls through the cracks,

[08:50] and you aren't left with like, "Oh,

[08:51] wait, what where is this piece of

[08:53] content? Like, what am I supposed to do

[08:55] here?" So, that process of planning and

[08:57] it out should take you 1 to 2 hours.

[09:00] Now, maybe the first time it takes you

[09:01] more, but as you do this more and more,

[09:03] it becomes easier and it becomes more

[09:05] streamlined. And also, because I'm going

[09:06] to teach you some things coming up, it's

[09:08] going to make it so much faster and

[09:10] better. Because we're going to talk

[09:11] about phone storage, we're talking about

[09:13] like researching when you're on

[09:14] Instagram about the type of content you

[09:15] want to create. Those things We're

[09:17] coming Stick with me, we're doing all of

[09:19] it. All right, let's talk about storage.

[09:20] I get these questions all the time,

[09:21] like, "How do you actually store your

[09:23] content?" Take a breath with me cuz

[09:25] you're not going to like this answer.

[09:26] You're going to have to do some work. If

[09:28] you don't have a storage system right

[09:29] now, then you just have to start a

[09:31] storage system. I'm going to break down

[09:33] how I do it and how I recommend doing

[09:35] it, and then I want you to customize it

[09:36] for yourself. One recommendation is that

[09:38] you have two phones. One phone is your

[09:40] personal phone and one phone is for your

[09:42] content creation and then it makes it a

[09:44] lot more simple because your content

[09:46] isn't mixed up with your family pictures

[09:49] cuz that can be really hard. If you do

[09:51] have a separate phone and you do just

[09:53] create content on the separate phone,

[09:55] then you can have like an assistant or

[09:57] whatever as part of your iCloud and they

[09:59] can help you keep it organized, right?

[10:01] Because they have access to it. But most

[10:03] people don't have two phones. I'm just

[10:04] saying that that's a good idea if you

[10:05] can. So, the key here is that you're

[10:07] going to need to create folders. So, in

[10:10] my pictures on my phone, I have a bunch

[10:12] of different folders and this folder

[10:14] system is what keeps things organized

[10:16] and it's where I can find everything

[10:17] really quickly. So, the first and like

[10:20] the most one of the most important

[10:21] folders you can have is a b-roll folder

[10:23] and this is where you just put all of

[10:25] your b-roll in it and then you have

[10:28] access whenever you want to just post

[10:30] something quick and easy, you have this

[10:32] b-roll that you can just go grab and the

[10:34] good thing about it is it becomes a bank

[10:36] and the more you put in it, the more you

[10:38] can use to create more content. Another

[10:40] one is I have a talking head video one.

[10:42] I put all of my content in there. So, so

[10:45] as you're thinking about how you want to

[10:46] organize it, I do it by format like

[10:48] b-roll or talking head. But another way

[10:50] to create your folders is by date or by

[10:53] pillar. So, like the topic that you're

[10:55] talking about. Most of my clients use

[10:57] iCloud and so they'll just share their

[10:59] iCloud folder with me and my team. But

[11:02] if you don't have that, you can do it in

[11:03] Dropbox or whatever storage platform you

[11:05] have, but you just have to be religious

[11:07] with how you organize your content. This

[11:09] isn't something that's going to just

[11:10] magically happen. And so, if you're in

[11:12] Dropbox, I do it by year and then month

[11:14] and then individual file, okay? So, and

[11:17] then for naming those individual files,

[11:19] whatever the pillar is and then a brief

[11:21] description of what the content's about.

[11:23] This makes it really searchable when you

[11:25] go to find like what you want to do. So,

[11:27] this is if you're using like Dropbox or

[11:29] something like that. Whatever folder

[11:30] system you want to use or wherever

[11:32] you're going to store things, I just

[11:34] want you to choose it and stick with it.

[11:35] And you have to be really consistent

[11:38] with when you're creating this content

[11:39] that you are constantly putting it where

[11:41] it needs to go. This isn't magically

[11:43] going to happen. I have seen AI with

[11:46] like video from video from your video

[11:48] camera, like it organize it and name it

[11:51] and all those things. I haven't been

[11:52] able to do that yet. So, I know that

[11:54] there's some AI coming, but what I want

[11:57] you to do is just start right here.

[11:58] Start where you are. Do not worry right

[12:00] now about going back and renaming and

[12:03] re-saving all of your content because

[12:05] you will not do that. I wouldn't do

[12:07] that. That makes me tired. Think about

[12:09] how am I going to do this? When am I

[12:10] going to do this? Is it after every time

[12:12] I video? Is it after every video?

[12:14] Whatever. And then just commit to doing

[12:16] it going forward. Just know this isn't

[12:18] extra. This isn't silly. This is

[12:20] actually part of the business process.

[12:22] If you talk to any creator who is a

[12:25] serious creator in making money as a

[12:26] serious creator or like making money as

[12:29] their business because they're a

[12:30] personal brand, you got to know that

[12:32] they're taking their content very

[12:33] seriously. Like this is not an

[12:35] afterthought. This is like, "Hey, we're

[12:37] doing it." And figuring out how to save

[12:38] that content is huge. Now, we're going

[12:41] to batch our content. This is

[12:43] non-negotiable. You have to put on your

[12:45] calendar that you're going to create out

[12:46] content and block out some time because

[12:48] this isn't something that you're going

[12:50] to be able to just like fit it and this

[12:52] is something that when you get in that

[12:53] creative space, you can do it after you

[12:55] wash and blow-dried your hair, you got

[12:57] your makeup on or whatever, right? Where

[12:58] you feel camera ready. And you can do it

[13:01] all at once. If you don't put this in

[13:03] your calendar, then it's not going to

[13:04] happen. And then you're going to be

[13:06] really frustrated when your content's

[13:08] not working. Well, you didn't make it a

[13:09] priority. So, make it a priority. So,

[13:11] when I think about batching, I recommend

[13:13] batching like my filming at one time and

[13:16] my editing and preparing for publishing

[13:18] at a different time because when I am

[13:20] creating and filming, it's a really

[13:22] different energy. It's a really

[13:23] different mind space that you're in. And

[13:25] then editing, well, that can be squeezed

[13:27] in at different times, right? You don't

[13:29] always look the way you want to when

[13:31] you're ready to film. And so, carving

[13:33] out that space to film and then making a

[13:35] space for you to edit and get it ready

[13:37] for publish, but do them at different

[13:39] times. So, film a bunch at once and then

[13:41] edit a bunch at once. And because you

[13:43] did all the planning in the steps

[13:45] before, you can just pull up your

[13:47] Airtable or spreadsheet or Trello board

[13:49] or however you do it, and you have all

[13:52] of your content ready to go and to film.

[13:54] And you don't have to waste most of your

[13:56] time. You don't have to waste a couple

[13:58] hours on Instagram scrolling because

[14:00] you've already done that, right? You've

[14:01] already done the research, it's ready to

[14:02] go. Now, I know I just said, "Okay,

[14:04] we've already scrolled through

[14:05] Instagram." This is a little trick I do

[14:07] to keep my content research productive.

[14:09] One of the biggest things because I know

[14:11] how this happens, right? You're like,

[14:13] "Okay, I'm going to block off 2 hours to

[14:15] film." And then you block off 2 hours,

[14:17] you spend the first hour looking and

[14:19] scrolling through Instagram. And then

[14:21] you find a couple things that you want

[14:22] to do, and then you don't really filter

[14:24] them through your goals or analytics or

[14:26] anything like that. And then you just

[14:28] hurry and film, and then you hurry and

[14:29] get them ready to post, and then you're

[14:31] like, "I don't know why it didn't work."

[14:32] And it's like, "Well, you didn't look at

[14:34] things through the lens of strategy."

[14:36] And we've got to do that. And so, when I

[14:39] am just scrolling through Instagram

[14:40] because I do it professionally, you

[14:42] know, scroll for things to see what's

[14:43] going on. I also do it personally. And

[14:46] so, as I'm scrolling, I have a saved

[14:48] folder system. So, when I see a piece of

[14:50] content that I like, that I want to

[14:52] create something like it. I'm not going

[14:54] to copy it, but it is an inspiration. I

[14:56] can use it to inspire a piece of

[14:57] content. I will save it in that folder.

[15:00] So, I have a B-roll one, I have an

[15:03] inspiration one, I have one that's about

[15:05] like Instagram strategy and so forth.

[15:06] Then when I'm scrolling, I can just put

[15:08] things in those different folders so

[15:10] that when I'm ready to like actually

[15:12] spell out the calendar and write the

[15:15] scripts and things like that, I have all

[15:16] of that content in one place. I can go

[15:18] look at it and be like, "Oh, this is the

[15:20] one I was thinking of. I'm going to do

[15:21] something like this, and then I can link

[15:23] it in the calendar so that when I go

[15:25] batch, I can look at that reel and say,

[15:27] "Oh, this is what I was thinking, and

[15:28] this is how I want to create it." So,

[15:30] then you're not just scrolling on

[15:31] Instagram, but you're actively looking

[15:33] for things that are going to fit you and

[15:35] your business. And this is the only time

[15:38] you should be scrolling for inspiration,

[15:40] not when you're filming, not when you're

[15:42] scheduling, not when you're writing a

[15:43] script. Now, let's talk about the last

[15:45] piece, and this might be one of the most

[15:47] important parts, but it is our

[15:49] scorecard. We keep a scorecard for me as

[15:51] well as for my clients. It comes from

[15:53] the book Traction, the EOS system. I'll

[15:55] leave a link to that book below, but you

[15:57] create a scorecard and you add your

[15:58] analytics every week at the same day and

[16:01] same time, and you are tracking the

[16:03] numbers of the things that matter most.

[16:06] We will do things for Instagram, we'll

[16:07] do like shares or saves or like most

[16:10] accounts reached, percentage of

[16:12] non-follower reached, our store our

[16:14] highest story views. And so, we keep

[16:16] track of all these so that we can see

[16:18] what is actually happening from a

[16:19] week-to-week basis. Because what I see

[16:22] all the time is people panic when they

[16:24] have a bad week. But if you're able to

[16:25] track data across week from week, then

[16:28] yeah, you're going to have low times,

[16:29] but you also can be like, "Oh, I can see

[16:31] why this is happening." And I get it all

[16:33] the time, you're scared of your numbers,

[16:35] you're scared of analytics because if a

[16:37] reel doesn't perform, then it means

[16:38] something about you, and that's just not

[16:40] true. We have to separate us from the

[16:43] outcome of the performance of a piece of

[16:45] content. If a piece of content doesn't

[16:47] do well, it doesn't mean that you're not

[16:49] good. It doesn't mean that you don't

[16:51] know how to run a business. It doesn't

[16:52] mean any of that, but it does give us

[16:54] information about that piece of content.

[16:56] So, maybe you tried a green screen video

[16:59] and you didn't have a great hook at the

[17:01] beginning. You didn't have compelling

[17:03] videos on the green screen, but we can

[17:05] then go and look at the numbers and say

[17:07] like, "Why is it showing up like this?

[17:08] How can we do better next time?" It's

[17:10] like, "Oh, we need a better hook." Okay,

[17:12] that doesn't make you a bad person, that

[17:14] just makes you a good strategist because

[17:16] you are thinking about, "Oh, I can see

[17:18] why that didn't perform well and now I'm

[17:19] going to do better going forward." So,

[17:21] you are a business. Numbers matter.

[17:23] Numbers tell us things. So, you've got

[17:25] to get over it. Start right now and go

[17:27] to your analytics and start looking

[17:29] around. What are the trends that you're

[17:30] seeing? What are the patterns? What can

[17:32] you learn right now so that you can

[17:33] start implementing that? Because you

[17:35] might see some things that are

[17:36] surprising. That maybe the reels that

[17:38] you thought were doing well, it's

[17:40] actually the carousels that are bringing

[17:42] in more followers. But, how would you

[17:43] know that unless you look at your

[17:45] analytics and unless you track them on a

[17:47] scorecard. So, having that scorecard and

[17:49] then having that once a week scorecard

[17:51] check-in where you put in your numbers

[17:52] and look at what's happened and where

[17:54] you're going just keeps you grounded and

[17:57] it keeps you grounded in your goals. So,

[17:59] that's a system, okay? You plan the

[18:00] month loosely and then you plan two

[18:02] weeks in detail, filter every post you

[18:04] type and format, build your filing

[18:06] system starting today, right now, film

[18:08] your content and batch edit your

[18:10] content, save inspiration during

[18:12] downtime, check your numbers every week.

[18:14] You want to put some brand in 2026, you

[18:16] have to actually create content. Systems

[18:19] that will let you do that without

[18:20] burning out. Okay, do you have other

[18:21] questions? Will you let me know below?

[18:23] You can get my Airtable template. You

[18:25] can get access to Michelle AI. And if

[18:27] you want me to rewrite your Instagram

[18:28] bio, well, those are all linked below.

[18:30] All right, my friend, we'll see you next

[18:31] time.