How I Turn 1 Idea Into 8+ Pieces of Content

Most founders I know are overwhelmed when it comes to content because they don’t have enough to say, but because they’re trying to say too much, too often, in too many formats. And they’re doing it all without a system.

I know because this has been me, too. I’ve spent the past year trying to figure out a system that would work for me and my brain and helps me build my business along the way.

I’ve created this weekly flow for Creator Diaries, and it helps me consistently produce thoughtful, layered content — all from a single idea.

Whether you’re a solopreneur, a founder building in public, or someone just trying to show up online more strategically, this playbook will help you:

Let’s walk through it.

Everything starts here. One big idea per week.

Not a content calendar. Not a list of hooks. A single, resonant, high-quality idea rooted in your expertise or point of view.

I usually write mine into Notion — either in my “Ideas” database or directly in a fresh content card. Sometimes it starts as a headline. Sometimes as a sentence I can’t stop thinking about.

Example:

I was listening to an episode of Creator Science recently where Jay Clouse shared how he was rethinking his content process. (Side note: highly recommend if you want to make better use of your time as a business owner!)

I then had a thought: I should verbalize how I think about turning an idea into a piece of content and then how I build out my system from that.

That became the nucleus of this essay.

Instead of staring at a blank page, I use ChatGPT like a writing partner.

I’ll paste my idea and prompt it with questions like:

This turns my scattered thoughts into a focused outline in 10–15 minutes.

Bonus: it forces me to articulate my point of view before I ever even start writing.

Now turn off ChatGPT and put your writer hat back on.

From there, I draft the full long-form piece inside Beehiiv, my newsletter platform.

I choose to do this instead of Google Docs or Notions because it’s just simpler. Again I’m trying to make life easier for myself and if I’m surfing through endless tabs to find my story ideas, it makes everything harder.

Once I have this essay ready to publish, I publish to the web only (not to email yet), which gives me a shareable article URL I can use in multiple places.

Essentially I’m thinking of my newsletter as both a blog and an email newsletter — and beehiiv can power both which is awesome.

You could paywall it if that’s your model, and this is something I’m experimenting with as well.

Here’s where you double-dip.

Your weekly newsletter should:

This gives your audience a snack-sized insight — plus the option to go deeper.

Here’s an example where I did this recently:

Also beehiiv now lets you create customized templates so you just have to plug in what you want for the week. I highly recommend doing this so you have one less detail to tweak! Also looks great to create something that’s on-brand for your business.

Another perk of posting both a long form essay and a newsletter each week: It doubles your ad or sponsorship opportunity. You now have two products to promote.

From that same idea, I’ll create:

These go on LinkedIn or Twitter, depending on where my audience lives.

Because the essay is already written, the posts practically write themselves.

I find that the pre-teaser posts are actually the most effective in getting new subscribers.

I’ll then record a casual but high-value video on Riverside, walking through the essay or expanding on a section. I’m still new to this tool but am loving how easy is it to use so far, and it’s helping me get past my fear (or avoidance!) of short term video.

This goes on YouTube or gets embedded into the article later.

I don’t script these — I just talk through the idea like I’m explaining it to a smart friend over coffee.

Tip: record video and audio so you can repurpose in multiple formats later. (I don’t yet have a podcast but I’m working towards it. Again if I’m going to spend time creating content, might as well get the best bang for my buck!)

Next, I use Riverside’s Magic Clipper to pull 2–3 short, punchy clips from that video. This really does feel like magic to use. You can select your ideal length, ie. 30, 60 sections, etc.

These are perfect for:

I find this so helpful just to get a few quick clips out there. Otherwise I might agonize over the transcript and which clips to select. If you’re a business of one like me, we do not have time for that!

Each of these clips point back to the main idea — giving me more reach without reinventing the wheel.

I’m hoping that once I keep doing these, the short form videos are what propels the growth of new subscribers/followers since Shorts/TikTok have the best discoverability features.

Finally, I keep notes on what content performs well.

Did a newsletter get a lot of new subs? Did a social post start a comment thread? Did a clip get unusually high views?

Use these insights so you can:

Tbh, this is still something I struggle to do consistently. But I know it’s so incredibly important and helps give your content more longevity, again saving you time and mental energy!

Let’s recap. One weekly idea becomes:

I feel like this is so doable in just a couple of hours a week if you put your head down and get serious about getting it all done.

This system is my take on the Create Once, Distribute Forever framework:

If you’re running a business, you don’t need to do more. You need to get more out of what you’re already doing.

It’s a modern take on Daniel Priestley’s 7-11-4 rule — the idea that people need 7 hours, 11 touchpoints, and 4 locations to trust you.

One great idea, strategically repurposed, gets you there way faster than sporadic, ‘I’ll post it when I feel like it’ content.

That’s the difference between ‘posting on social’ and building Narrative Capital. 💪

I’ll end with this message, out of love. No system can save a bad idea. Prioritizing finding, shaping, and building on great ideas. We’re talking about the top 1% of ideas here.

If your initial concept is shallow, generic, or boring, no amount of repurposing will make it a great story. But if your idea is clear, deep, and rooted in your expertise — it becomes a flywheel.

That’s the core of Narrative Capital: building trust, clarity, and opportunity around the unique things only you can say.

And this is how you turn one of those ideas into a week’s worth of content without needing an entire media team.