I’m a thinker. I think a lot. I talk a lot too, but my best work comes from thinking.
In fact, I’ve always joked (but am also serious) that if I’m staring off into space, I’m actually getting my best writing done.
I prefer to think quietly to myself about ideas. I can do brainstorming sessions, and I’m good at them, but I’ll be exhausted afterwards and want to take time with the ideas generated in the session to turn them into something more tangible.
I’m an internal processor.
I work with a lot of other internal processors. But I also work with a lot of external processors—people who think out loud.
When I’m working with my clients and subject matter experts on creating content, I adjust my process based on whether they’re an internal processor or an external processor. I’ve found small adjustments that make a huge difference in making sure the content creation process goes smoothly for everyone.
Side note: When I say content, it’s an umbrella term to mean things like blog posts, website copy, emails, guest articles, social media posts, and so much more.
Creating Unique Content
There’s a lot of content on the internet. Sometimes it overwhelms me, and I struggle with making sure what I create is different than what already exists. When I’m writing as myself, that’s pretty easy. I can pull from my decade-plus of experience working in dozens of industries in all areas of marketing.
But when I’m writing on behalf of a client, I obviously don’t have their expertise in my head, ready to magically put on paper. However, I have no desire to write content that just involves googling a topic and reworking what’s already been written. I did enough of that in college and grad school for research papers.
I want to help my clients get their own unique ideas and experiences out there. In fact, that’s one thing I hear the most from clients:
“I have all these great ideas for content, but I don’t have time to turn them into anything.”
Those are the types of clients I like to work with on content.
An important part of that process is getting the information out of the expert’s head and into mine. That’s where the diversion between internal and external processors starts.
Working with Internal and External Processors
So much of what I do depends on the subject matter expert I’m working with on a piece of content or topic cluster. I need them to do my best work, and I want the process to be enjoyable (or at least not a burden) for them. That’s why I’m very cognizant of being flexible to work in a way that makes things as easy as possible on the expert and the client.
There are several different points in my process where I adjust to the expert’s preference—most of them depending heavily on whether they’re an internal or external processor.
Topic Brainstorming
Deciding what content to create is half the battle. Coming up with topics is a very different process for internal and external processors. As I mentioned, I can do group brainstorming sessions, but as an internal processor, I’d much rather sit in a room alone (with music) and put my ideas on paper. Most internal processors I know are the same way. If you get us on a call and say, “What should we write about next week?” I’m going to freeze and say, “Let me think about it.”
On the other hand, external processors tend to prefer a call to brain dump topic ideas. For them, the thought of sitting down in front of a blank page and writing down ideas is painful. It’s faster and less of a barrier for them to just hop on a quick call and tell me their ideas.
Knowing my clients’ (and their experts’) preferences for topic brainstorming is helpful in making sure I get the information I need to keep a content strategy moving.
When I’m working with an external processor, we schedule periodic calls to brainstorm ideas. Then I, as an internal processor, take the ideas and plot them into the bigger content topic strategy and calendar (doing that on a call would be painful for me).
When I’m working with an internal processor, I do one (or more) of the following:
- Send a note about the shared editorial calendar each time I update it. This can often spark new ideas from the client.
- Send and email asking for a content topic brainstorm.
- Ask on a call for them to email me after with some topic ideas.
For both types of thinkers, I also ask them to shoot me a quick email or Slack note if a content idea pops into their head. Get the idea out of their head and onto my plate and I’ll take it from there. I do a lot of the heavy lifting on content topic planning, but I will always need the experts’ help throughout the process.
Once topics are decided, it’s time to do something with those topics.
Knowledge Extraction
As I mentioned, I don’t want to write an article I can find all of the information for on Google. I want to use the information inside my clients’ brains to create content with unique perspectives and ideas. This means I work closely with experts to create content. They have the information in their heads (and often don’t have time to write and/or don’t enjoy it), and I turn that information into content their audience can use and maybe enjoy.
Getting the information out of my clients’ brains and into mine is a really important part of my process. And I approach it very differently with internal processors vs. external processors.
When the subject matter expert is an internal processor, I offer them a few different ways to get their thoughts to me:
- Start and outline/draft of the piece with their thoughts documented in writing
- Email me bullet points (and/or paragraphs) of information on the topic
- I’ll email questions and they can respond to those in writing
On the other hand, when the expert is an external processor, I give them these options:
- Send me a video or audio file of them explaining the topic out loud
- I’ll interview them via phone or video call
- I’ll email them questions and they can record a video or audio file answering them at their leisure
When I offer external processor clients the option to send me an audio file of their brain dump, they light up. Often they’ve been asked to write bullet points or compile information in an email—and that just doesn’t jive with their thinking process.
Many times, when a company’s content creation process has previously failed, it can be tied back to the experts being asked to get outside their comfort zone…and not in a good way. Adapting to different working styles can make the content creation process less painful for everyone.
Content Review
Once the expert and I have worked together on the content—their knowledge plus my writing—I need them to review it to make sure I got the concepts right and didn’t make any glaring mistakes.
As you can probably guess, internal processors and external processors tend to prefer different formats for review. And even though it’s a written piece, there are still ways to be flexible in review.
For internal processors, review is generally pretty straightforward. I send over the piece, and they sit down in their preferred environment and review it.
For external processors, reviewing written content isn’t the most fun activity in the world. To attempt to make it a bit easier, I offer to walk through the piece on a recorded video or on a live video call. The expert can also review the piece on a video of their own—walk through the piece and give me their gut-shot feedback on the spot.
Timelines
Knowing how to work with both internal and external processors helps me keep content timelines intact.
When the client is an internal processor, I try to give them time throughout the whole process. They need time to brainstorm content ideas and to compile their knowledge to hand off to me. They’ll want to be in the right headspace to sit down and review the piece of content and provide feedback, which means allowing a few extra days in the timeline can help everyone feel better about the process.
On the other hand, time can be a detriment for external processors. I’ve found the most success with this group when I get them on a call at each step: topic brainstorming, knowledge extraction, and review. Just get on the phone, knock it out, and move along.
When I start working with a client, I’ll generally explain this concept to them. Most haven’t heard it before, and yet almost every person can identify which category they fall into. Often, if I’ll be working with others on the client team, my main contact can also categorize the team members pretty accurately.
The content creation process doesn’t have to be laborious. When I run across someone who has had bad experiences with creating content, oftentimes it comes down to a mismatch in process and whether they’re an internal or external processor. Forcing an external processor to write down their thoughts isn’t going to be enjoyable for them. And asking an internal processor to brainstorm on the spot is going to be anxiety-inducing.
By knowing and understanding this, I can help clients where other writers and marketers haven’t been able to before.