The Fractal Content Playbook helps you create high value content quickly, repurpose it and use it to build your content marketing ecosystem, distribution engine and authority in your field.
By the end of this guide, you’ll have everything you need to launch your own Fractal Content Engine, get your first guest and start making content your customers would love to consume.
Let’s go!
⚔️ To make your life easier, I’ve attached an ultimate checklist for you to follow from start to finish.
And, if you want more stuff like this, consider subscribing to The Sidequest
What’s coming up
- Why should you use The Fractal Content Playbook?
- How does it work?
- Executing The Fractal Content Playbook
- Planning Your Show
- Finding Guests
- Briefing Your Guests
- The Call
- Repurposing
- Conclusion
- The Ultimate Checklist
Why should you use The Fractal Content Playbook?
Creating content is a big challenge for many creators.
You could be a founder with no marketing team, a tech solopreneur who would rather code a new feature or you might have a million things that fight for your attention (like me!).
⚔️ The Fractal Content Playbook will help you get high quality content out in the fastest way possible, and help you build your brand simultaneously.
It helps you:
- Easily circumvent writer’s block
- Create high quality content quickly
- Leverage other people’s authority
- Build your own reputation
- Build a following on multiple platforms
- Hack your distribution
- Get your content in front of other people
The reason it works so well (and delivers more) is because it ticks all but one of the boxes in this thread of ‘must do marketing activities for any company’.
How does it work?
The key focus of this playbook is to have valuable conversations that are repurposed and converted to multiple formats – video, audio, text and images – to build out your marketing ecosystem as I explain in the thread below.
⚔️ The Fractal Content Playbook is simple: Have conversations with experts, record them and repurpose them.
Executing The Fractal Content Playbook
In the process described below, I’ve assumed that you’re inviting external guests for conversations. You can easily remix this to work with internal guests as well.
There are 5 main stages:
- Planning Your Show
- Finding Guests
- Briefing
- The Call
- Repurposing
⚔️ Want the TLDR version? There’s a step by step checklist at the end.
Planning Your Show
Your Content Buckets
The first thing you need to figure out are your content buckets:
What are the topics you want to create content around?
What is the lens through which you want to view the world?
What is the problem you want to solve?
This is dictated by the needs of your audience and the problem you’re solving for them. Figuring out your content buckets also helps you find the right guests/conversation partners for your show.
Ultimately, content buckets also help you get the traction you need to get your message out, as explained in the thread below.
When you’re starting out, pick one or two buckets. The more focused you are, the better.
⚔️ Multiple content buckets can work if they’re in close proximity and they riff off of each other.
Once you have your content buckets planned out, brainstorm a few titles for your content buckets. These can serve as the topics for each of your episodes as well.
If you’re stuck here, I recommend you use The Two Jump Technique I describe in this thread.
Nailing Down The Details
⚔️ Even if you’re doing the show internally, work through these details. They work wonders in terms of crystallizing your idea and giving direction for your efforts.
- End Goal of the show: What do you want to achieve from this content creation exercise? Having the end in mind helps focus your energy and efforts.
- Problem You’re Solving: What is the problem you’re trying to solve, at an overall level.
- Title: What’s the name of your show? Pick a name even if it’s never going to see the light of day.
- Description: Write up a two to three sentence description of the show. This will be used in many places including socials, website, bios, invites, emails etc.
- Keywords: What are the keywords associated with your show? This will help you focus.
- Duration: How long will your episodes be? This is relevant to your guests and your planning efforts.
- Frequency: Decide how often you’ll be releasing your content. This will impact the number of episodes you will need in your buffer and your budgeting. Remember: Your release frequency is not the same as your recording frequency.
- Host or Panel: Do you want the show to be a host + interview style format or do you want it to be a panel discussion? Both are fun. (Yes! Content creation is fun! (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿))
- Seasons: If you’re concerned about committing to a long term project, you can split up your content into multiple seasons. Decide on the number of episodes per season, and if relevant, the theme of the season. This takes off a lot of pressure while you’re creating content.
- Rigidity: Would you be planning out the questions in advance? Will the questions be the same for each episode? Will you be freewheeling the conversation? Questions can ensure coverage of a topic but a freewheeling conversation can yield unexpected gems.
- Structure: Will you be having specific segments? If so, what are they?
- Livestreaming: Livestreaming can allow the audience to cocreate the content with you, but it does add a higher level of stress, technical complexity and organization.
- Relevance Statement: Write out a statement that highlights two to three big shifts in the world that have made now the perfect, relevant time to have the conversations you’re having.
Bonuses & Content Upgrades
This is also the perfect time to plan out any bonuses and content upgrades you want to make.
- Behind the scenes: Great content for use on socials – and people like this.
- Extra content: Recording exclusive content for special members of your audience.
- Bloopers: Everyone loves this. (I got this idea from Jackie Chan movies!)
- Community Access: Building a community around your show and giving access could be a good upgrade.
- Insider Questions: You could consider special members access to your guests via questions.
Next, it’s time to get your collateral ready. There can be a lot to do here, but at the bare minimum, you need to get your logo, social creatives, icons and design elements ready.
⚔️ Bonuses and Content Upgrades are great ways to build your email list & community.
The last step in this stage is to actively think about where you want to house your community. You may already have a place for your business, but, if you don’t, consider Discord, Circle or Telegram.
Whichever channel you pick, you need to ensure that you enable conversation among members of your community and give them a common purpose.
Finding Guests
The right guest can be the difference between a dud and a goldmine of content.
Here’s how you find the right guests:
- Build a criteria for selecting guests. Consider metrics such as relevance to your end goal, presence, platforms, insights, conversational ability, reach and fit for your brand.
- Connect with the right guest.
- The people you follow and your audience is the best place to look for guests.
- Networking can make finding the right guest easy. If you haven’t done so already, network with the right kind of people for your end goals.
- Cold outreach can help when you don’t have a network in place. Use your criteria to find the right guests and reach out to them. When you ask them to come on your show, make sure you communicate what’s in it for them. (Usually, goodwill & fame is enough, but you may need to sweeten the deal.)
- Matchmaking sites exists as well, and they can help you find the right person for your show.
- Schedule a recording call and you’re done with this stage!
⚔️ When you speak to your guest, make sure you tell your guest that you intend to use the content for marketing purposes.
Briefing Your Guests
Before you get on to recording your guests, you need to help them understand what to expect. That’s where briefing comes in.
I recommend that you use a standard template for briefing and share that document in advance with your guests. If possible, run them through the briefing document before the recording.
Your briefing document should contain:
- What to expect in the show
- Relevant details such the name of the show, the format, duration, dates, links, media kit etc.
- Details of the host
- Audience for the show
- Dos & Don’ts for the show
- Release form details. You need to ensure that you have permission to use the content you’re creating with them for any purpose. There are standard templates you can use.
- A pre recording checklist
- Survival Tips
- Sample episodes
The Call
Before you begin the recording, spend a few minutes chatting with the guest to help them loosen up. Go through the prerecording checklist and answer any questions they may have.
If you haven’t done so already, get their release forms signed.
Turn on the recording and do a test run.
⚔️ Do not forget to hit the record button. (ಥ﹏ಥ)
Once everything’s ok, hit record, relax & have your conversation with the guest.
Once the conversation is done, thank the guest, end the call and make multiple backups of this recording.
Congratulations! You’ve finished one of the most difficult steps of this process
(҂◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
Repurposing
With the recording done, half the work is done. Next, you need to being repurposing it. The most important decision you need to make is – what kind of content will you make?
I go into detail in about content strategy in the thread below.
(Hint: This type of content can yield both Curd Rice & Biryani!)
Once you’ve decided on a strategy for your content, this is how you would go about repurposing.
- Start by editing the content for your main format – video in this case.
- Once you have the main video edited, extract multiple clips for use as short form videos, clips and gifs.
- Extract the audio from the main video for your podcast.
- Transcribe the audio for a longform blog post.
- Convert the blog post into a LinkedIn post, Twitter thread, Medium article and newsletter content.
- Pick scannable content and punchy bits to create images, infographics and gifs.
- Create content that you can use for yourself – and for your guest! Share that with them to make their life easier.
⚔️ This may feel overwhelming, but don’t worry. You can hire help to do all this, or repurpose only for a few platforms. Or, not do any repurposing at all and just use the one format you recorded your call in.
Whatever you do, make sure that you have a content calendar in place to help you plan for this process. There are a lot of moving parts and things can get gnarly really fast.
Once you’re ready, look at making your content better. The thread below will get you started.
Conclusion
That’s it! If you’ve followed these 5 steps, you’ll have created multiple pieces of valuable content from just one conversation.
The ROI on time and effort from this is ridiculously high.
Hope this helps you build a better experience for you customers!
Good luck macha!
(҂◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
⚔️ To make your life easier, I’ve attached an ultimate checklist for you to follow from start to finish.
The Ultimate Fractal Content Playbook Checklist
Follow this checklist to execute The Fractal Content Playbook, step by step.
- Planning Your Show
- Fill in the details of your show
- What’s the end goal?
- What is the problem you’re trying to solve for your customer?
- Pick 1 or 2 content buckets based on the problem you’re solving for your audience.
- What’s the name of your show?
- What’s a 3 sentence description of your show?
- What are the keywords for your show?
- How long will your episodes be?
- How often will you release your content?
- Will you run this as an interview or a panel discussion?
- Will you be breaking it up into seasons? If so, how many episodes per season? What’s the theme of this season?
- Will each episode have the same structure or will each episode be a unique conversation?
- Will your show have segments? What are they?
- Will you be livestreaming your show?
- What big shifts in the world have made it relevant and necessary for you to have the conversations you’re having now?
- Plan out your bonuses and content upgrades
- Will you offer behind the scenes content?
- Will you create extra content?
- Will you share bloopers? <3
- Will you give special community access?
- Will you allow insiders to ask questions?
- Get your email marketing tool and landing pages ready, if you don’t have it already.
- Decide where to house your community, if you don’t have one already.
- Get your collateral ready
- Logo
- Headshots
- Social Creatives
- Icons
- Design Elements
- Platform specific collateral
- Fill in the details of your show
- Finding Guests
- Build out a selection criteria
- Make a list of people who fit that criteria.
- Look in your audience
- Look at networking
- Look at cold outreach
- Look at matchmaking sites
- Connect with the guest and schedule a recording call.
- Briefing
- Build out a standard briefing template.
- Share the briefing document with the guest
- Run your guest through the briefing document and answer any questions.
- Get the release form signed.
- The Call
- Make sure your recording infrastructure is working fine.
- Chat a bit to help the guest loosen up.
- Get the release forms signed, if you haven’t done so already.
- Do a test run.
- Hit record and have your conversation.
- After the conversation, make multiple backups.
- Pat yourself on the back.
- Repurposing
- Decide what kind of content you’re going to make from the conversation.
- Exit the content for your main format – usually video.
- Extract multiple clips for short form videos, clips & gifs.
- Rip the audio from the main video for podcasts and voiceovers.
- Transcribe the audio for a longform blog post.
- Convert the longform post into a LinkedIn post, Twitter thread, Medium article and newsletter content.
- Convert scannable content and punchy bits for images and gifs.
- Create marketing collateral for yourself and your guest to use on social.
- Distribute
- Bonus Activities
- Have a content calendar in place.
- Invite me as a guest!
- Look at levelling up your messaging.
- Systematize this entire process.
- Give me a follow (҂◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
- Retweet the source tweet for good karma 🙂
- Breathe.
About Arvindh Sundar
Heya!
I am Arvindh.
I run Put The Player First where I help tech founders make and sell products their customers will buy, using mental models from videogames.
In life, I have 4 goals. In increasing order of difficulty, they are:
- Create my own fantasy universe
- Launch & build a location independent business.
- Run my own game design studio.
- Finish an Iron Man.
And yes! I’d be happy to help you get started with this. (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)
Get in touch with me and I’ll be happy to be a guest on your show!
Whenever I find time away from being a dad, husband & entrepreneur, I spend my time watching zombie movies, cycling and drooling over low poly art!
Follow me 🤜 @arvindhsundar
Or, send me an email at arvindh@puttheplayerfirst.com
(҂◡̀_◡́)ᕤ