How to build a content library

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Read time: 3.5 mins

Requirement: Only your writing skill

When I say that I’ve 3 months’ worth of content ready, people think I’m joking.

But I really have it sorted.

I know you’re staring at me, but how about I help you do the same?

Shall we talk about it in today’s session? let’s jump.

What do I mean by a content library?

A content library is a place where you store ideas, notes, examples, and drafts. It allows you to write quickly and always know what to talk about, so you never start from zero.

When I started my newsletter journey back in October 2023, I did not follow anything. I had no one to guide me. And I made horrible mistakes.

I do not want you to repeat them.

Before you even start, you need to ask two questions.

How many newsletters do you want to publish in a month?
How much social content do you want to and are capable of publishing in a month?

Once you know your cadence, the next question is how many ideas you actually need.

Let us say you want to publish four newsletters a month. That is 48 newsletters in a year, right?

So you need 70 or more ideas because you will reject many of them.

Once you know the volume of the newsletter editions, it becomes easy for you to track and plan accordingly.

Now, let us go step by step so you understand it better.

Use one tool only. My suggestion will be Notion/Google Docs, and for quick notes, your phone notes app is sufficient. The tool does not matter that much.

Create four main sections inside your tool.

When it comes to me, I use Google Sheet to store ideas, Notion to draft my content, and Beehiiv editor does the rest. I don’t use any fancy tools

But where do I get the ideas? Let’s talk about it.

You can get ideas from daily life, books, podcasts, and conversations. Write every idea instantly when you get it.

I personally spend a lot of time on Reddit, Quora, and X.

Follow this rule: one idea equals one note.

Make sure you add the context of the idea. Sometimes, I cannot remember what I had in mind if I skip this step.

You can also check websites like Really Good Emails or read the newsletters that are already in your inbox.

Whenever you see a good headline, tweet, landing page, newsletter, or visual, save it. These examples teach you how good content is built.

You can store screenshots, links, short quotes, and patterns you notice. This becomes your swipe file.

Once a week, open your ideas list. Pick three ideas you like. Expand each one into a short draft. You only need the skeleton.

A good newsletter outline has four parts.

A clear angle
A short introduction
Three key points or insights
One action step or takeaway

After a few weeks, you will have several newsletter outlines ready to expand into complete editions.

Content buckets help you stay in line. Choose 3-4 pillars that match your newsletter theme.

For example, Insideletter has:

Now you need to assign the ideas to each pillar. It’ll be so easy if you can do this.

Your library will make sure you never have content issues again. But you still need a routine to follow. Here is an example.

Monday → Pick one draft.
Tuesday → Edit it.
Wednesday → Publish

Now you know exactly what to do.

Remember the cadence we talked about? If your weekly cadence is 1 newsletter a week, then you need 4 newsletters a month or 12 newsletters in 3 months.

So sit down and prepare twelve drafts. Every week, on the first day, open one draft, finish it, and you are sorted.

One last thing before you go.

Please understand this. If you think you will build your library once and never use it again, you need to change the way you think.

You must keep going back to your library. Reuse old ideas and shape them into new forms. This is how your content stays relevant without draining your energy.

How about I tell you the process behind this newsletter?

First step:

Idea

Why most creators run out of newsletter topics (I found it on Reddit)

Creators don’t have a system to capture ideas.

Most creators need a place to store the ideas they already have. Once you build a simple library, you will never run out of topics again.

Point 1. Ideas disappear if you do not capture them on time.

Point 2. A library allows you to store ideas, notes, and examples in one place.

Point 3. When you open your library, you already have material ready to write on.

Create one folder called ideas and make a rule that every idea goes into it within thirty seconds. This alone will solve half of your topic problem.

This is how a one-line idea becomes a full newsletter outline.

You’ve got my secret. Now go and smash it.

Do you want the template for doing it? Reply to this email.

Anirban ‘helping you get a never-ending content library’ Das. 💠

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