Content chaos to content calm: finding post ideas for building your personal brand
Ever wondered “how on earth do they come up with so many content ideas?”
Same here! You’re not alone. Now for some, I’m sure it comes naturally (which I can’t say I’m not jealous about) - and for others, they just know the right places to look. So, put your feet up and grab your favourite snack as I explore:
⚡ Content pillars.
⚡ Content inspiration.
⚡ Correctly crediting creators.
So you can leave ready to tackle the fear of what to say to build your personal brand on social media (and a friendly reminder that you don’t have to be classed as an ‘expert’ to simply share your opinion online).
Zoey 101? No, content pillar 101!
Content pillar this, content pillar that. You’ve probably heard the phrase often on social… but what does it mean?
Content pillars are main topics that you post about online which helps you to build topical authority and engage target audiences more effectively.
It's a good idea to establish 3-5 pillars to help your content stay more focused, consistent and recognisable!
I don’t think you’ll be shocked to hear that your content pillars should be easily recognisable from your ‘why’, goals and values which we discussed in my last blog (shameless plug) 🔌
But it’s true! At the end of the day, the content you post should help you to get that one bit closer to a goal you want to achieve.
So lay out your goals and mind map the type of content you think will help you achieve them - making sure your core purpose (aka your 'why') runs through each decision. These pillars might look something like…
⚡ Digesting marketing campaigns.
⚡ Reporting on industry trends and updates.
⚡ Personal growth and experience.
⚡ Community building.
⚡ Fun/humorous/relatable moments.
It’s a good idea to establish 3-5 pillars to help your content stay more focused, consistent and recognisable! And with this… let them naturally become a mix of high-effort and low-effort content, with a mix of content types – whether that be text heavy, static post, carousel, video etc.
(because whose been there when a post that took 5-minutes lands better than one that takes 50?)
I’m virtually *winking* at Sophie for this idea (no bias, but she revolutionised my posting strategy by suggesting I commit to one quick post per week).
Soooo what are we going to do? Take a minute to reflect back on that all import ‘why’ and personal goals - so that you can establish what content pillars will resonate with your audience, plus get you to where you want to be!
You will literally never run out of content ideas… if you know where to look!
And I don’t say that lightly. Content inspiration is EVERYWHERE. In fact, 2 million posts, articles, and videos are published on LinkedIn every day.
But when your mind is numb or in a creative slump as I like to call it, here’s my handy top tips!
A cheeky scroll down your social home feeds:
It sounds super simple, but just digesting other creators’ or brands posts can spark 101 new ideas (just make sure you write them down and don’t let them die in the notes app graveyard).
Also make note to have a little ponder in the comment section. I will never stop talking about audience sentiment (an examination of how an audience feels about a brand, company, or product based on social data), can help you crack content inspiration.
Head to the comment sections (aka gold mines)
See what people are conversing about
Identify any key trends, pain points, talking points etc
Create content that solves the above!
SHHH, but there’s a cracking site called Answer the Public where you can see what questions people are asking on Google for different topics. ANSWER THEM!!! (don’t say I don’t treat ya)!
Read the newsletters that go left unread in your email black hole.
I’m SOOO guilty of starring and not coming back to them but they are filled with SO much digestible content (literally on your doorstep). My top tip is to treat them like your daily morning reading – take 10 minutes at the beginning of each day to read, soak in inspiration, and don’t forget to write actionable points down.
Check out my FAVES...
Leverage AI:
AI can be intimidating – I can agree. As a creative, I felt guilty using AI at first. BUT it doesn’t have to write your posts; it can work WONDERS for sparking content idea’s. It’s true… reading one idea can lead to another (that not necessarily the robot gave you, hehe).
TOP TIP: the more precise you are with what you want, the better!
(You can even ask for ideas in the tone of your own profile – but you didn’t hear this from me).
Repurpose content:
WHY IS THIS SO TABOO? Look back at your past content. If something performed well, share it again!
How you do this is up to you - trial and error. Whether that's hitting a hard copy and paste, testing out new imagery, hook or even reformatting it into different content types (i.e video, carousel etc).
The likelihood is you’ll have eyes in your community that haven’t seen it yet, or if people do remember… they’ll be glad to see a banging piece of content again.
Check out how I re-purposed one of my posts and had a better return 👀
And finally, take yourself offline.
A little birdie (or otherwise known as the gorgeous Dayana Collazos Ibarra), let me in on this one! Have a walk, go shopping, be present. By digesting your surroundings and clearing your mind – you never know what inspiration you might stumble on.
Hey… I usually spot some cracking billboards in London when I’m looking up instead of down on my phone!
Let’s not get into a sticky situation:
Roughly 1% of LinkedIn users post content weekly… sounds small until you realise that’s about 3 million people!
Think about how much content you consume just on your homepage scroll, and to think that doesn’t even scratch the surface. So, I get it. Standing out is HARD.
Sometimes you may see posts from other creators that you think are GENIUS and fell like you have something of value to contribute to it – but I cannot tell you HOW vital it is to make sure you go about crediting it, without copying it.
(Because it’s SO natural to feel inspired, but we want to ensure the original creator gets the recognition for their hard work too).
💓 ‘Quote’ share the post – by directly sharing the post, you can add your own thoughts while automatically crediting the original creator, it’s a win-win.
💓 Tag the creator – be sure to @ the creator and give them a big shoutout, telling them straight that they inspired your post (but do be sure to use your own thought piece and not directly copy theirs).
💓 Link the original post – spread the love with a simple “check out @’s post here [add link]” to make sure they get the exposure they deserve.
And if in doubt, drop them a DM. I’m SURE the creator would absolutely help you if you’re ever feeling unsure about taking inspiration
My holy grails:
Now it wouldn’t be fair if I brain dumped all this information on you and let you fend for yourself!
Here are some of my top resources for all things content:
[Blog] Content Pillars for Social Media: How to Create & Use Them – Semrush
[AI] ChatGPT & Answer the Public
[Blog] 100+ LinkedIn Statistics You Need to Know in 2025 - SocialPilot
[Daily Newsletter] DTC Newsletter
To cut the story short:
If you’ve read my entire blog – thanks for staying around! Here’s a quick-fire recap:
3-5 Content Pillars are key to finding your voice in your brand – plus stop the overwhelm when it comes to what to post.
Believe it or not… content inspiration is EVERYWHERE – from your feed, newsletters, AI, old-content and offline.
Don’t be that person… credit creators properly by quote re-sharing the post, tagging them with a shoutout or a link straight to their post.
Digital Marketing Executive and Top 2025
Marketer to Watch
