How to Create an Endless Stream of Master Content
As a content creator, one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced is producing enough “master content” to fuel my content machine.
What do I mean by “master content”?
It’s the foundational piece that can be repurposed into various other formats, such as blog posts, social media updates, email newsletters, and more.
The Struggle to Nail Down Master Content
For me, master content often takes the form of a podcast episode or video interview.
But getting that initial piece of content nailed down is a logistical nightmare. It involves planning, researching topics, finding the right guests or interviewees, and coordinating schedules. I’ve struggled with this challenge so much that I’ve likely dedicated an entire podcast episode to it before.
Producing master content is critical if you want to have something to repurpose into other content formats. Yet it’s incredibly difficult to accomplish, as it requires a significant investment of time and effort.
My Previous Approach
Until recently, my process for creating master content looked something like this: During a strategic workshop, I’d create a long list of content ideas and potential interview topics.
Alongside this list, I’d have a column with the names of people we needed to contact to make each piece of content happen.
This approach had its merits, but it still left the problem of actually arranging all the logistics.
We had to reach out to each potential guest, sometimes without even knowing who the ideal person would be for a particular topic.
Then came the task of finding their contact information and nailing down a time for the interview.
More often than not, this process would stall in the planning phase.
The groundwork became too overwhelming, and many promising content ideas never made it past the drawing board.
Can you relate to this frustrating pattern? If so, you’re not alone.
The Three-Step Solution
To break free from this cycle, I implemented three simple steps that have transformed our ability to produce master content consistently.
1. Hire an Editorial Assistant
The first and most impactful step was hiring an editorial assistant or producer to handle the logistics and planning.
For a long time, I hesitated to take this step, but it has proven invaluable.
My editorial assistant, Olivia, now handles tasks like reaching out to potential guests, coordinating schedules, and handling all the groundwork required to make each interview happen.
Just a few days ago, she notified me that she had already reached out to five potential guests, and four of them had responded positively.
I was blown away by her efficiency.
While I had spent months procrastinating and struggling to decide who to approach, Olivia simply started at the top of the list and made it happen.
Having someone dedicated to this critical planning role has been a game-changer.
2. Implement a Calendar Booking System
To make Olivia’s life easier (and more efficient), we provided her with access to a calendar booking app like Calendly or Microsoft’s built-in booking system.
This allows her to book interviews directly onto my calendar without any back-and-forth or risk of double-booking.
We’ve also set strict parameters for when interviews can be scheduled, limiting availability to one slot per day on Mondays and Wednesdays. While this means guests may sometimes have to wait a few weeks for an opening, it’s a small price to pay for a streamlined, organized process.
3. Templatize Your Outreach Emails
The final step is to create a set of templatized emails for reaching out to potential guests.
We use a two-step approach:
- The first email is a brief introduction, stating who we are, the topic we’d like to discuss, and asking if they’d be interested in participating. We include links to a few recent episodes so they can get a sense of the show.
- If the recipient expresses interest, we follow up with a second email providing all the practical details: interview length, platform, tech requirements, and—most importantly—the calendar booking link they can use to select a suitable time slot.
Having these templatized emails ready to go saves time and ensures a consistent, professional outreach process.
The Results: A Thriving Content Ecosystem
By implementing these three steps, we’ve been able to consistently produce a steady stream of master content that serves as the foundation for our entire content universe. With Olivia handling the logistics, interviews get booked efficiently, and our content pipeline remains full and flowing.
Of course, the real benefit is the wealth of valuable, repurposable content we can create from each podcast episode or video interview.
Those initial pieces of master content become the source material for blog posts, social media updates, email newsletters, and more—a true content ecosystem that keeps our audience engaged and our thought leadership efforts thriving.
If you’re struggling to produce enough master content to fuel your content machine, I can’t recommend this three-step approach enough.
Hire an editorial assistant, implement a calendar booking system, and templatize your outreach emails.
You’ll be amazed at how much more efficiently you can create the foundational content that drives your entire content strategy forward.
