Leverage other people's hard work
I was watching YouTube one day and it really hit me.
Reaction channels!
If you don't know what a reaction chanel is, they basically watch other YouTuber's videos and then they create their own videos reacting to the original videos.
It's genius! They create content using other people's content!
I love this concept so much because a lot of times we're sitting around banging our heads trying to figure out what to come up with next.
Meanwhile, we can usitlize other people's content, put our spin on it and make it all our own.
Besides creating reaction channels on YouTube, you can also do a couple of other things.
The Skyscraper Technique.
This is a technique that Brian Dean of Backlinko came up with. You figure out a keyword that you want to rank for, then you look to see who's in the top spots for that keyword in Google. You use what the top people used (not copy, but see WHY they're #1) and you create an even better version of it. You're building something better on top of their foundation.
Bigger and Better List Posts.
This really goes with #1. But let's say you want to rank for the keyword "apple pie recipes." Find the top ranking list posts. For instance, "11 Best Apple Pie Recipes." Now you come up with 50 best apple pie recipes.
Roundup Posts.
Use content from other bloggers and round up their information into your own blog post. For instance, you could send an email to a bunch of experts in email marketing and ask them what their favorite tools are. Then you can write a post of "22 Expert Email Marketers Give Us Their Top Tools." Another one I see a lot is "Here are the Income Reports of X Bloggers Who Make Over $50,000 a Month." You can easily find this information by doing a simple search.
Content from Reddit.
One thing that I see a lot of YouTubers do (and I think it can work for blog posts too) is to go into a subreddit and grab interesting content and create commentary around it. There are tons of *interesting* (and sometimes scary) subreddits. That's your warning. lol But I'm positive you can find something related to your niche in there.
Use Pinterest Pins.
This is the one I'm most excited about. (Probably because I just learned it.) You can take Pinterest pins on a given topic, include your branding on it and put in into your blog post. This is called embedding pins. Here's an example from a blog post I'm currently working on.
The title of the post is 11 Best Plant-Based Sandwiches with Avocado. I went into Pinterest, found some pins that I thought would work, and now I'm embedding them into my blog post.
You can see that my PickPlants branding is included. This opens up a whole world of already-created content that you can use. Just add your personal spin to it!
I'm sure there are ways to do this with other platforms too, but I love Pinterest because of how visual it is and how people take the time to make pretty pictures.
If you'd like to see exactly how to do this, I just created training.
It's nice and short (because it's really easy). Check it out if you're interested. This is the video training:
And I also created a text version for those who prefer it:
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/how-to-embed-pinterest-pins-into-a-blog-post
I hope this helps give you some ideas of how to leverage the hard work of others to ceate your own content. (I hope it goes without saying to never copy someone else's work and always make sure they get credit!)
Thanks for reading!
- Christina
P.S. If you have other ideas of how to use other people's content to create your own, or just other ways to come up with content in general, leave a comment below!
Recent Comments
55
This post is great it's a keeper!
It reminds me of a sales seminar I went to years ago, when I sold real estate.
The speaker said how he got All his good ideas on selling was he went and visited realtors that were very successful at open houses at their office etc. to pick their brains on how they were making sales and then he copied them and became very successfull 😎👌
Absolutely! We don't need to reinvent the wheel. Copy what works. (Ethically, of course.)
- Christina
Is this printed or the video? I tried watching the video but it kept stopping and starting on me. This is something that I am really interested in learning more about.
Take care
Charlotte
The Pinterest training I did was in video format, but I can make a text format tomorrow. I'll let you know when it's done!
- Christina
Thank you so much. I live out in the country and the internet service is not that great, goes up and down all the time. No cell phone service, which stinks.
Hi Charlotte! I created the text version of the training. It's here: How to Embed Pinterest Pins Into a Blog Post Hope that helps!
- Christina
Thanks Christina for all the time you spent doing this. I greatly appreciate it. On something new, I can get it down better if I read it. Thanks again for going to all this trouble.
Take care
Charlotte
You're welcome! I prefer reading tutorials to watching videos myself, so I don't mind doing it.
- Christina
This is indeed genius. I was all disappointed because there is ONE other person writing about a niche detail I thought I am unique about and part of his post is imply wrong information. Thanks to you I will combine the two and make it better!
Oh, that's such a GREAT opportunity for you! You go out there and beat that blog post!
- Christina
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When I read “leverage other people’s hard work” I got scared for a minute. Lots of people steal other people’s hard work to consider it leverage.
I didn’t think you’d do that. I understand what you mean with these tips you included. You don’t always have to start from a blank screen. You can start from inspiration from others.
Guest posting and collaboration are two other options that may have long term benefits for you and the other creator(s).
Haha, I would never advocate stealing someone's hard work. Just leverage it. And give credit. :)
Thanks for the additional ideas!
- Christina
Hahahaha! I didn’t think so. When I read the title, I was scared but when I saw the face, I knew it couldn’t be my first impression.