Have you gotten used to (read: addicted to) letting AI write all your content?
When ChatGPT first debuted in November 2022, I was proud to introduce it to the members of my marketing membership as a way to save them time with content creation. And as an early adopter, I wanted to save myself time, too. Anytime I needed to come up with a script for a Youtube video, Instagram caption, reel script, carousel copy, email copy, you name it, I used ChatGPT to come up with it all. At first, I gave it my frameworks and my original thoughts on a topic and allowed it to edit and repurpose.
But eventually, what started off as content collaboration became content delegation, to AI. I no longer could think on my own to come up with content without AI. And looking back at my content over the past few years, it isn’t performing as well and neither is my business.
If I want my business to thrive again from my content, I need to figure out how to think on my own and find my voice again.
In order to find my voice again I needed to do a few things:
- I needed to figure out what I wanted to talk about now in my content that I feel confident enough talking about
- I needed a way to get the creative juices flowing without AI helping me do it
- I needed to determine which content formats and platforms I feel most comfortable communicating in
If you have gotten co-dependent on using AI to create your content, and you’ve lost your voice in the process, let me share how I’m getting mine back.
Thing 1: I needed to find topics I feel confident yapping about
First of all, I needed to find topics I feel confident talking about.
The reason AI made content easier for me is because all I needed was an idea and it could come up with the full script, caption, and do the research for me. But when I was killing it at content, I only talked about things I knew well, that I liked talking about (or was at least passionate about), and the content drew from my own experience or that of my clients. So I had to reflect on what I’ve done with clients and what I’ve experienced that would help me with my business.
Once I had those subject areas in mind, it made it easier to feel confident about doing it on my own.
Thing 2: I need a strategy to get creative juices flowing independently
If I can’t use AI as my creative writing partner, I need some other way to get my creative juices flowing again.
With AI, all I have to do is give it a little information and it can ask me questions, give me prompts, and even just come up with content from little to nothing. But at one point, so could I. I thought back to how I used to teach clients how to come up with launch content back in 2020-2021, and remembered I gave them prompts. And I used those same prompts to come up with my own content too. Outside of content prompts that get the creative juices flowing, I also had lots of content frameworks I could follow, too, so I’m not creating ideas from scratch.
Having templates, prompts, and frameworks makes it easier for my creative juices to flow independently.
Thing 3: I needed to find content formats and platforms I communicate best in naturally
The only way I’m going to be able to show up in content feeling like myself is if the content is in formats I communicate well in.
I’m a certified yapper, so talking is easiest for me. Which makes sense that I struggle to make those quote posts or things that are just text. Thinking to how I used to best show up and what people most responded to, it was always my video content and podcast content. So the platforms I’d do well on are TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram, and the channels I’d do well on are podcasts and social media.
Once you know which platforms and channels lean into your best communication styles, it makes it easier for you to know what to commit to.
By just doing those 3 things, I’m already feeling more confident creating content and getting better responses from my audience.
There’s nothing wrong with leveraging AI to speed up your work, but there’s a way to do it without completely losing yourself and your voice in the process.
Now more than ever, people are looking for authenticity in content, so the more you can find ways to remain authentic, the better your content will perform.
And the more you feel like yourself in the process, the more confident you will be to create more content.
