What's Poppin Reader Welcome To Content Corner!!!
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This week:
๐ The content blueprint from a model?
๐ Craft your perfect content series
๐ The AI tool that will give you a whole photo shoot
and more... lets go!
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So it's 4:00 in the morning when I'm writing this because it just hit me on that how to create successful content has been in our face this whole time. We have just been looking at it as a consumer and not a producer.
I don't know about your timeline, but my timeline has been flooded with the new Netflix docu-series about America's Next Top Model. I'm not even fully done with the first episode, and I have learned so much because they just described the blueprint, and I had to stop and take notes.
Now, I'm not expecting us to make shows, even though you may be inspired or motivated to do it in the future. I don't know. But with a show that literally ran for pretty much 24 seasons and has now been brought back up as a Netflix docu-series, we have to break down why this was so successful and how does this apply to content?
First, let's break down the show's framework, and you'll see what I'm talking about.
1. The "education-tainment" gap
Tyra Banks understood that there was a massive gap in the modeling world:
- Inclusivity
- Gate-kept knowledge
By teaching the audience the "rules of modeling," she turned viewers into judges. You weren't just watching; you were learning a skill, which kept deep viewer investment.
2. The repeatable "three-act" format
A successful content series needs what I call "heartbeat." this is a rhythm that the audience can rely on. America's Next Top Model perfected a three-part structure in every single episode.
- The lesson: A mentor like Jay Manuel or Ms. J teaches a technical skill
- The Challenge: a low-stakes test of that skill, with a mini prize
- The Shoot And Panel: the high stakes application, and the elimination
Quick side note, this format is now the industry standard for competition shows. Think of RuPaul's Drag Race or Forged in Fire.
3. The Characters
Now, Tyra Banks didn't just look for models; she looked for prototypes. To make the show pop, you need characters that the audience can instantly categorize..for example
- The relatable underdog
- The fashion, the high-fashion alien
- The villain
- Controversial figure
- The transformation
OK Nicky, I get it. That's a TV show. How does this apply to my content and turning what I'm doing into a successful content series?
The Value-Based Hook
In your content, there needs to be a sense of insight.
- The Framework: don't just show the results; show the method. Even give your audience a vocabulary that only they understand.
- Application: If you're a fitness creator, don't just show the workout. Invent a name for a specific move or mindset. The five-minute reset: when your audience use your words, they feel like they belong to a club
The Predictable Rhythm
People crave a "heartbeat" in content.
- The Framework: The show used: lesson-to-challenge-to-elimination format
-
Application: Your video should have a recurring structure
- Opening: state the high-stakes goal.
- Middle: show the struggle of the process.
- Closing: the reveal or the judgment.
- Why it works: the viewer knows exactly what's coming next, so they stay until the end to see "elimination." (the results)
The Human Friction
If you're a solo creator, you have to play multiple "characters" or bring in guests to fill these role. To keep it simple, think of it as you need a hero, a skeptic, and an expert.
The hero can be you, the one who's trying to solve a problem. The skeptic can be the person in the comments or a guest who says this won't work or is an obstacle. The expert is the data or the mentor that you're bringing in.
Quick Tip: Friction creates views if everyone agrees the content is boring.
The Season Two Pivot: "Scalability."
Now season one of this show was gritty. It was shot with very little resources compared to maybe other shows. I think of that as content, using the basic gear, focusing on the gap more than anything.
Then, when they went to season two, they had the data to make the upgrades. When it comes to your content, using the data from your first phase to upgrade the production, the gear: maybe even work with some people.
The Makeover Moment
On this show, the makeover episode is always the highest rated. Why? Because people love transformation
So when you're talking about your content, your content series, always include a before and after or a then versus now element. If your content series doesn't show progress, people will stop following the journey.
As you can see, nowhere in here did I talk about drama, because I don't want you to think I'm bringing up this show and you have to add some type of element you're not comfortable with.
It's all about finding pieces of each of these blueprints that I mentioned and finding out your own way of creating content on a consistent basis. These are the kind of frameworks we concentrate on inside Lions Behavior. Side note: If you're not in it, just click here โ
But my question to you is:
- Have you seen the docu-series?
- What part of this framework do you need to concentrate on or do you need to start with?
๐ AI Alley
Google came out with a new AI tool that will allow you to have a whole photo shoot right inside of your bedroom, if you wanted to. It's called Pomelli and I've had access to this for a few days now
What stood out to me was how easy it is to create photos and different social media assets without a single prompt.
What this website does is that you actually give it your website, and it pulls the fonts, the colors, the logos, the pictures from it, so it creates this business DNA, brand DNA of you. You don't have to upload anything. It pulls everything from the site that you input.
But the part that caught my attention was the feature called "Photo Shoot." This is where you get to pick what product you want to highlight. And it literally does exactly what it says. It creates a photo shoot of your product. No prompting needed, unlike Nana Banana.
I just tried it on the merch.
So if you want to try it yourself, click here โ
So you already know you have to email me back about your biggest takeaway from this week's Content Corner take a screenshot and tag me in your stories (or Threads/Substack) so I know you liked this week's content. If not, I'll see you next Friday. Same time, same corner.
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I'll Holla,
Nicky S
P.S. Whenever you are ready, here's how I can help you
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