54. Creating Consistent Curated Content with Jon Goode

October 11, 2021 Guest User

Consistency is Key, But on Social Media, It Feels Like a Lot

How do you stay consistent on social media without feeling like you are constantly pumping out more content, writing more things, recording more things, speaking into the mic more and showing up online more?

Consistency is key, but we’re also still human. Everyone has responsibilities to their clients, colleagues, employees, and team members. And then there’s life outside of work and content production.

In this episode, Jon Goode joins India to discuss moving the conversation from content creation to content curation.

Meet Jon

Jon Goode is an Emmy-nominated writer raised in Richmond, VA and currently residing in Atlanta, GA. Jon’s work has been featured on CNN, HBO, BET, VH-1, TVOne, and used by several other networks and corporations. Jon’s work earned him the 2006 Promax Gold for the best copyright in North America. His collection of poems and short stories, Conduit, was #1 on Amazon for 16 weeks. Jon's debut novel, Mydas, was released on Sept 14th 2020. It debuted as a #1 new title on Amazon. Jon is a Fellow of AIR Serenbe and the current host of The Moth, Atlanta.

Curation Versus Creation

You can use social media as an opportunity to compile content, find the common threads, curate that content, then distribute it back out to your people.

Content curation accomplishes three major things. It saves your people time because you already found the wisest, funniest, most relevant content for them. It saves you time because you’re not struggling to come up with new content all the time. And you’re amplifying the voices of other creators.

When you’re strategic about how you’re curating content and who and what you’re amplifying, you can build a sense of community.

And this is a strategy that works for an audience of any size.

It’s About Engagement

One of social media platforms’ primary metrics is engagement. And Jon says there are two main ways to engage. You can create new content, or you can share content and shape it to your own needs.

Jon realized that content creation couldn’t be his primary focus when he’s traveling, performing, and writing. “So then I said, all right, how are you still going to engage people in these ways and still give yourself the time to do what you need to do?”

He shifted his social media strategy from the neverending grind of content creation, to curating a feed of videos and images that would speak to things he wants to lift and edify, and that he could shape in a way that carried his brand. And then he could market the projects that he was working on.

Why Brand Your Shared Content

Jon consistently adds a tag, usually in the bottom right and again at the end of any videos, that will link back to him. He also tags the original creator.

Doing this helps to ensure that no matter how many times the content gets shared, his name and his tag will remain associated with it, no matter how far it gets shared and reshared away from his original post.

“I started this actually, because I created this meme of DL Hughley, a few people used it and I didn't have my name on it, and it was everywhere. And I was like, ‘oh man, I'm not getting the benefit of this being everywhere.’”

At the same time, Jon recognizes that “anything you post on the internet, it is damn near fair game,” for someone else to repost, manipulate or recontextualize. He capitalizes on the kind of virality by embedding links back to his content within videos, so “I can reap the benefit of the shares.”

What Gets Amplified

Jon’s strategy for what he’s amplifying is simple: “I'm amplifying things that are moving in the direction I want to move in.”

For him, that means that while his life is currently wrapped up in various forms of storytelling, whether through his work with The Moth, his books, or moving into television and film writing, so that informs what he chooses to share.

His advice is to evaluate where you are, where you want to go, and how you get there from here, and put forward content that will move you in that direction.

Jon credits his background in spoken word poetry for his commitment to promoting others’ work and the reciprocal energy it generates.

“The people who I came up watching and kind of learning from, they were wholeheartedly believers of “when the tide comes in all ships rise to the same level.”

It does get tricky when someone comes to him with work that he doesn’t want to share, whether it doesn’t meet his standards or he simply doesn’t enjoy it.

He never wants to discourage artists, even if he feels he can’t be the person to promote their work, and navigating those conversations isn’t always easy.

“It is a dance. It is like double Dutch.”

Making Connections

India asks Jon to elaborate a little further on his background and how he got from working at an equipment finance firm with a degree in economics to the multi-hyphenate artist he is now.

Jon was first exposed to spoken word poetry via a former boss, now friend. At the time, he thought a poetry open mic night sounded like a terrible way to spend an evening, but he was inspired and energized by the experience and began writing and performing poems.

Eventually, he applied to be on HBO’s Def Poetry and on his fourth attempt, made it onto the show.

From that appearance, his creative career opened up. He worked on projects with TV Land, CNN, McDonald’s, Nike, collecting an Emmy nomination and a Promax Award along the way.

“If you show up in this space, you show up early, you show up earnest, often you show up with some excellence, everything leads to the next thing you...You have to show up your best self and knock everything out of the park because you don't know who knows who and who's watching, who's listening. Everything leads to the next.”

Amplifying other creators, and not having his feed be, as India says “just the me show,” and posting consistently also benefits Jon with potential project partners.

“Interestingly enough, people like people who they think are good people and people like people who they feel like they can connect with and get along with.”

But that has to be genuine to who you are once you get in a room with people.

“It all factors in–your presence, your personality, the degree to which you've elevated your art and the consistency with which you pursue these things.”

Jon’s commitment to making connections and amplifying other creators extends to sharing his knowledge and process as well.

He says, “One of the things that used to really frustrate me as an artist when I was coming up is the number of people who knew how to do what it is I was trying to do, and just wouldn't tell you. They just wouldn't tell you because in their mind, your success somehow means their failure.

So I knew that as I moved forward, what I was going to do is that if you ask me and I have the information, I will absolutely tell them.”

Following someone else’s path isn’t a guarantee of success, but Jon doesn’t believe that all creatives are fighting for the same audience, and that there is more than enough to go around if you “inject yourself into that space with your unique product, your unique personality and your energy.”

A Final Word

Reflecting on finding your purpose, Jon says, “The first step is so many people I talk to don't know what brings them joy.”

To figure that out, he says, you have to try new things, put yourself in new spaces, once you find the thing that makes you come alive, “follow your energy in that direction.”

Connect with Jon Goode

Instagram: @jon_goode
Facebook: @jon.goode

Connect with India Jackson and Flaunt Your Fire

Flaunt Your Fire
Instagram: @FlauntYourFire, @theIndiaJackson

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