Unless you’ve been living under a stone for the past few years, you will have noticed that we are in something of a content revolution. The creation of content, in all its forms, from video to written content to photography and podcasts, has become so much easier and the democratization of these niches means that doing so is far less expensive than it would have been a decade or more ago.
The amount of content we consume is down, in the main, to the marked increase in the time we spend on our mobile devices. This means we are consuming more content, be that videos on TikTok, articles on social media platforms, or indeed subscriptions to any number of streaming services.
Making content is easier than ever, and there are many helpful tools and tips that can make what you produce stand out from the crowd. So much so that an individual can produce something that is of the highest quality without spending a small fortune doing so.
Here are a few ways to help improve the content you may be looking to produce.
Improving Written Content
Fancy yourself as something of a reporter or content professional? Maybe you want to produce a blog that will educate and inform your readers? In which case, there’s a tool you absolutely must get.
Grammarly is the most well-known language assistance tool, and it’s enjoyed by millions and can be the difference between amateurish posts and those which will be heartily enjoyed by your following.
Because of the amount of content you produce, you can do with all the help making sure there are as few errors as possible. While Google Docs offers a very basic spellcheck, Grammarly (especially if you upgrade to one of the more complete packages) will improve the quality of your work so that it not only is grammatically correct but is also a far better read for your audience.
Using Intuitive Video Editing Software
Putting together a professional video, for whatever purpose, will undoubtedly require editing software that is both easy to use but also effective. That’s whether you want color correction or visual effects, such as those you can achieve with DaVinci Resolve, or simply to add subtitles to your commercial.
A good editing tool is vital, not just so that your video content is clean and well put together, but is also crucial for getting the most out of every piece of content you produce. As an example, you might shoot a 30 minute long docu-series that sees you cover the mysteries of London, maybe you are looking to track down famous criminal cases of the 1800s, and in order to make the overall piece particularly enticing, you’d want to split it into teaser trailers and perhaps into smaller segments.
Putting Together an In-House Studio for your Podcast
If you want to host a video or audio podcast (on YouTube or elsewhere), then you’ll need the right equipment to help make your work look distinguished. No one will interact well with a badly recorded podcast, poorly lit, or simply isn’t interesting to them.
Invest in a high-quality mic and camera, these are less expensive than you might at first think, and then you will instantly make your production seem more professional. Use a mic stand and check the lighting in the room you record in, and ideally, trust natural lighting.
Content Management Tool
Any project you undertake, for whatever content type you are looking to create, will need a content management tool. Something to help track, plan and complete relevant tasks and for this, we highly recommend Trello.
It’s easy to use and is especially effective if there are more than just one or two people involved in the project. For instance, if you are shooting a feature film, you can use Trello to liaise every part of the process. This can be to manage the call times for your actors as well as plan out editing schedules as well as other post-production tasks.
Frankly, it’s something we couldn’t do without and is far easier than hoping that everything just works out okay with emails and messages via Whatsapp.
Improving the Relevance of Your Content
If you are working on putting together an up-to-the-minute news site or have a YouTube channel that deals in current affairs and breaking news, then Google Trends is a great tool to employ.
It’s perfect for those creating a lot of content and for fishing for ideas and stories to cover, and it’s all built off of data, meaning it’s very up to the minute and can help to keep the content you are producing to be as timely and relevant as possible.
Great Photography for your Thumbnails and Articles
Trying to avoid copyright bans can be tough, and it’s something you can’t afford to get wrong, as getting one can lead to your social media channels being deleted and even financial penalties.
So with that in mind, you should look to sign up for a free image service or one that isn’t expensive, and with this in mind, we can’t recommend Unsplash highly enough.
Some stock photo sites offer very basic and unimaginative content, so much so that any that you use will just scream ‘stock image’ to your readers, but Unsplash isn’t like that.
They have a massive library of content, and much of it is very high quality indeed, and it’s the kind of tool that you’ll find incredibly handy, be that for the thumbnails you might need or images for your latest blog.
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