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- [ON BRAND] Your guide to creating non-boring content
[ON BRAND] Your guide to creating non-boring content
...cheatsheets, ideas & how to 10x your creativity
Alexandra Manderstam
August 11, 2025
Hi there! Welcome back to On Brand - your weekly dose of actionable strategies and insights to grow & monetize your personal brand.
Thank you so much to everyone who joined our workshop last week! It was incredible to see so many of you there - the energy in the chat was absolutely unmatched. If you missed it, we're hosting another one in September and I'd love for you to join - save your seat here.
One topic that kept coming up was how to actually create better content. The nitty-gritty of what makes content that stops the scroll and makes people think "I need to save this."
I've been creating content almost every day for the last three years, and I want to share the things I've learned that I think a lot of creators miss.
The technical foundations - How content should be structured and what makes it truly great
The creative nurturing - How to fuel yourself with better ideas that genuinely resonate with people
Today's newsletter is a little longer so go grab a beveragio and lock in.
In this issue:
Interesting things from last week
The best things we’ve read, watched and listened to.
Instagram had a busy month rolling out a ton of new features and one of them seems rather odd? (P.S. here’s a handy guide on how to turn off your location sharing for your Instagram for good - stay safe out there baddies!)
GPT-5 just dropped (overview here) and people had opinions!
These two cult-favorite brands just teamed up and it might be the collab of the summer?!
Everyone's obsessed with tactics and hacks. Trust me, I get it - we all want the quick fix. But the only "content hack" that actually works is creating better content.
And what makes content better? It's not about viral audio or trending hashtags. It's about understanding how the algorithm actually rewards valuable, engaging content.
Here's how the algorithm really works:
You post content
Platform shows it to a small number of users who match your content based on their behavior
If they engage → Platform shows it to more people → You grow
If they don't engage → Platform reduces reach → You don't grow
I can almost guarantee you that Mark Zuckeberg isn’t plotting how to keep your content hidden at 2am in his office. The algorithm isn't against you. It's literally designed to show people content they'll find valuable and relevant to keep them on the platform for as long as possible. So the question becomes: how do you create content that people genuinely want to engage with?
The 7 principles of scroll-stopping content:
#1 It's genuinely valuable
Your content needs to either:
Save time (shortcuts, templates, resources)
Teach a specific skill (step-by-step tutorials)
Give an advantage (insider knowledge, trends)
Make your audience feel understood (shared struggles, experiences)
Entertain (stories, humor, behind-the-scenes)
This is the key to getting more engagement and longer watch time - creating things people find relevant and helpful.
#2 It's custom-made for your audience
This is where any content strategy needs to start. The best creators know their audience inside out. When you understand exactly who you're speaking to, what you create feels custom-made for them.
Questions to ask yourself:
Who exactly am I talking to?
What keeps them up at night?
What are they trying to achieve?
How do they want to feel?
What problems can I solve for them?
#3 Clear intention & takeaways
Before you publish, get crystal clear on these three things:
What will my audience learn and how does it help them?
What should they do with this information?
How should my audience engage with this content? (Save - resources they'll reference, Share - cool info or makes them feel seen, Comment - starts a conversation)
If you can't answer all three, your content needs more clarity and purpose.
#4 Consistency x3
Consistency is such a superpower. It goes way beyond posting 5 days a week at 10am. Think about it holistically:
Consistent visuals
Consistent topics
Consistent value
When you keep consistently delivering on that value, it creates great rapport. That's how you become someone's favorite person to follow.
#5 Strong hook + deliver on the promise
Your content needs a strong hook to get people's attention, but then it needs to deliver on the value and keep people engaged.
Good hooks create a curiosity gap:
Make a bold statement (then back it up)
Ask a question they've been thinking about (then answer it)
Share a specific problem your audience has (then help them solve it)
#6 It's actually interesting
If you're genuinely interested and excited about your content, your audience probably will be too. Create things you'd want to consume yourself. When you're bored creating your content, your audience will likely be bored consuming it.
Find your sweet spot: the intersection of your audience's needs, your interests, and your expertise.
#7 Easy to consume
The best creators are incredible at sharing complex things in easy-to-understand, entertaining ways:
Simple frameworks
Step-by-step breakdowns
Visual explanations
Relevant examples
Interesting stories
Nurturing Your Best Ideas
Even the most strategic, business-focused content still requires your creative energy. And you can't create when you're running on empty.
These might not be what you expect from a "content strategy" newsletter, but these are the things that actually matter for long-term success.
Pour into yourself first
Your creative energy is finite. You need to actively replenish it if you want to create consistently at a high level.
Get out of survival mode. When you're constantly stressed or overwhelmed, your brain doesn't have space for creative thinking. Rest isn't optional - it's part of the creative process.
Do things that energize you. Notice what activities make you feel more alive and inspired. Schedule them regularly, not just when you have time left over. (note to self!)
Create an inspiring workspace. Your environment affects your creativity more than you think. Make your workspace somewhere you actually want to spend time.
Build nurturing routines. Morning walks, afternoon tea breaks, evening reading - whatever helps you feel grounded and creative.
Discipline yourself to show up
No one got better at creating content by just thinking about content. You need to take action and put yourself out there.
Keep in mind:
80% is good enough
Better to "flop and learn" than never post
Aim for 1% improvement each time
Consistency beats perfection
Work when it's hard, but pivot when it's not working
Curate your media diet
Long-form content is where you actually learn things you can transfer to your audience. Short-form content is great for inspiration, but depth comes from longer formats:
Read books about topics you're obsessed with
Watch things that inspire you
Curate your Substack feed
Listen to podcasts & YouTube videos
Follow people who inspire you
Consume things that help you deepen your expertise and create better.
Follow your excitement
If you're bored creating your content, people will probably be bored consuming it.
Talk about things that you genuinely geek out on. People feel excitement. And they'll find you if they're excited about the same things.
You know those random content ideas that you just have to create right away and the content pours out of you? Those always do the best. Don't ignore them.
Don't sit on ideas
When you get excited about a content idea, act on it immediately. I've lost countless great pieces of content by telling myself "I'll create this next week." By then, the inspiration is gone or it just doesn't feel right anymore.
Create great ideas within 24-48 hours.
We often postpone things to protect ourselves from rejection or fear of how others will perceive us. This totally kills creativity.
Don't forget to live your life
Babe, please go outside, touch grass, and talk to people. I promise you'll come back 10x more inspired.
Try new things that scare you
Go to a museum
Have a solo dinner and talk to strangers
Experience things
Be around people
Ask about their experiences
I know how tempting it is to lock in and just grind things out. But you can't create in a complete silo. Real inspiration comes from real experiences.
Your Action Plan
Here's your homework for the rest of this month (and yes, I'm calling it homework because I want you to actually do this):
Week 1: Foundation
Write a list of media/books/ substacks you want to consume and actually schedule time to do it
Schedule one thing that's not content-related - solo date, fun activity, dinner with friends
Do the audience deep-dive - answer those 6 questions about who you're really talking to
Audit your last 10 posts using the 7 principles above - what's working? What isn't?
Week 2: Implementation
Create something about a topic you're totally geeking out on - act on it within 24 hours
Build a nurturing routine that creates space for both rest and focused work
Set up your media diet - unfollow accounts that drain you, curate feeds that inspire you
Plan your next piece of valuable content that serves your audience's biggest challenge right now
Now go make something extraordinary!
We’ve created free tools to help you level up your personal brand this year. Grab both of them below.
Obsession-Worthy Brand Guide
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On-Demand Personal Brand Strategist
Get a powerful ChatGPT prompt + five follow-ups to clarify your positioning, grow your audience, and create content that drives results.
