Are You Talking About What You Love? - Good Content with Shannon McKinstrie

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: Good Content with Shannon McKinstrie
Episode: Are You Talking About What You Love?
Release Date: April 29, 2025

Introduction

In the episode titled "Are You Talking About What You Love?", host Shannon McKinstrie delves into the pivotal role of self-awareness in marketing. Drawing from her recent conversation with Candace and Jennifer of the Social Circle, Shannon emphasizes the necessity for content creators to align their online presence with their genuine passions rather than adhering strictly to prescribed marketing strategies.

The Importance of Self-Awareness in Marketing

Shannon opens the discussion by highlighting how many digital marketers and social media experts often feel pressured to "niche down" and follow rigid content creation guidelines. This pressure can lead to disengagement and a lack of enthusiasm in their content creation process.

“If you're showing up, it doesn't feel exciting to you, it doesn't feel like you're truly talking about something you care about.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [05:30]

Identifying Your Passion: What You Love to Talk About

Shannon poses a critical question to her listeners: “What is something that if you got a call tomorrow from, let's say, the Today Show or CNN, and they're like, we need you on a segment, what is something that you're like, I would get on there and crush it because I can never stop talking about this one thing?” This introspection encourages creators to pinpoint topics they are genuinely passionate about.

She shares a personal anecdote about being the “content creator” among her friends since the 90s, emphasizing her lifelong dedication to content creation.

“If you can't shut up about it and you're excited about it, we are going to feel that and we're going to love it for you and for us.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [12:45]

Making Content Relatable: Borrowing Popular Phrases and Brands

Shannon illustrates how successful content creators make their content relatable by integrating popular phrases, words, and brands that resonate with their audience. She references experts on the Today Show who use familiar brands to make their advice more approachable.

Examples Provided:

Neurologist Dr. Jessica Lew:
- Uses “McDonald's migraine hack” to make health advice relatable to the general public.
- Quote: “McDonald's because US average people who don't know anything about health are gonna be like McDonald's.”
  — Shannon McKinstrie [18:20]
Stylist Expert:
- Describes summer styles that “whisper luxury”, elevating standard style tips with sophisticated language.
- Quote: “Style tips that whisper luxury. How beautiful is that.”
  — Shannon McKinstrie [19:10]
Travel Tips Expert:
- Advises against calling an Uber straight to the airport, using the brand “Uber” to maintain relatability.
- Quote: “He mentions Uber. That is a brand we know.”
  — Shannon McKinstrie [20:05]

Authenticity Over Virality: Creating Content You're Excited About

Shannon stresses the importance of authenticity in content creation. She advises against producing content solely for its potential to go viral if it doesn't genuinely excite you.

“If I'm not excited about that new feature or I don't care about it, I'm not going to talk about it. Even if it's super popular, I know it would go viral. It's not interesting to me, so I'm not going to create it.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [25:15]

She contrasts this with her own enthusiasm for certain content forms, such as hitting posts on a reel, which she shares as a source of genuine excitement.

Practical Steps: Checking in with Yourself and Rebranding

Shannon encourages listeners to self-reflect and identify the topics they are passionate about. She suggests that if your current content doesn't reflect your true interests, it's perfectly acceptable to rebrand or pivot to a subject you love.

“Create content based on things that you actually care about and love. Don't feel like you have to niche so far down into something that you don't care about talking about.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [33:40]

She provides actionable advice, urging creators to:

Check in with themselves to rediscover their passions.
Rebrand if necessary, ensuring their content remains authentic.
Study successful reels (linked in show notes) to understand how experts integrate relatability into their content.

Shannon also mentions a listener example: a marketing teacher who prefers discussing her weight loss journey over strictly marketing topics, illustrating that audiences will follow authentic and passionate content creators.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Wrapping up the episode, Shannon reiterates the significance of authentic content that stems from genuine passion. She assures listeners that embracing their true interests will lead to more engaging and sustainable content creation.

“This is not so much of a teaching episode. It's like I want to give you permission to check in with yourself.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [37:00]

Shannon previews the next episode, promising more tactical and practical advice, and encourages listeners to:

Review the show notes for valuable examples.
Prepare for a deep dive into content creation strategies that align with their passions.

She concludes with an uplifting message, reinforcing the importance of enjoying the content creation journey and maintaining authenticity.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

On Excitement in Content Creation:
“If you're showing up, it doesn't feel exciting to you, it doesn't feel like you're truly talking about something you care about.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [05:30]
On Passion-Driven Content:
“If you can't shut up about it and you're excited about it, we are going to feel that and we're going to love it for you and for us.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [12:45]
On Relatability Through Brands:
“McDonald's because US average people who don't know anything about health are gonna be like McDonald's.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [18:20]
On Authenticity Over Virality:
“If I'm not excited about that new feature or I don't care about it, I'm not going to talk about it. Even if it's super popular, I know it would go viral. It's not interesting to me, so I'm not going to create it.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [25:15]
On Creating Meaningful Content:
“Create content based on things that you actually care about and love. Don't feel like you have to niche so far down into something that you don't care about talking about.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [33:40]
On Self-Awareness and Permission to Rebrand:
“This is not so much of a teaching episode. It's like I want to give you permission to check in with yourself.”
— Shannon McKinstrie [37:00]

For a deeper understanding and practical examples, be sure to check out the show notes linked with this episode. Next week, Shannon promises to explore tactical strategies to implement these insights effectively.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
Shannon McKinstry
Foreign I am your host, Shannon McKinstry. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation, guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good Content. I just got off an awesome podcast recording with Candace and Jennifer of the Social Circle and we talked about so many things. But one thing we talked about I want to talk about on here because it's so important and I talk about it a lot on in my stories often and it's just self awareness with marketing because I think what especially a lot of people who got into digital marketing or showing up on social media and an expert in something you've already been an expert in for a long time, you're being told all this stuff, right? You're being told things from marketing experts like me, but like, you know, that are talking in absolutes and telling you you have to niche down, you have to only talk like this, you need to only provide value, blah, blah, blah, right? Then when you're showing up, it doesn't feel exciting to you, it doesn't feel like you're truly talking about something you care about. So I want to pause for a moment and I really want you to ask yourself, what is something that if you got a call tomorrow from let's say the Today show or CNN or someone and they're like, we need you on a segment, what is something that you're like, I would get on there and crush it because I can never stop talking about this one thing. I was actually watching the Today show this morning and I was seeing how like, you know, all the experts, they have a lifestyle expert giving hacks on traveling, they had a health expert talking about these mind blowing new tests they can do for cancer. They had a money guy come on and talk about the tariffs and how to save money and things, you know, giving advice. Obviously they had politics, they had pop culture, they had right? So when you think about that, and especially with my background in news, I thought it'd be fun to kind of go this route with today's podcast. And we talked about it a lot in that last podcast, so. And now I'm all hyped about it. Cause I'm like, what is something that when people come to you and they've come to you for it for a long time and it's something you actually enjoy that people come to you for, right? I always joke back in the day, I was the friend who people go, Shannon, what should my caption be? Shannon, can you take a photo of me? I've always been the content creator of the group, Even in the 90s with my video camera. Right. And I've said it before in this podcast over here and down in our basement we have boxes of just VHS tapes that I need to get digitized because I've been the content creator, quote unquote, since before cameras were on our phones. So it's very natural for me to love. And I took marketing in college. I took TV production classes in high school. I worked at cnn. I interned at C span. I love talking production and content and editing and video. I can't shut up about it. If I had to come on social media and talk about something I'm not interested in, it's going to come through my content. People are going to tell that I am not excited. So I need you to ask yourself, because a lot of people, like we were saying I was talking about with Candace and Jennifer, a lot of people who got into the, especially the digital marketing course who took like those MRR courses were told to like stay in this one box and they're getting online and they're talking about stuff that they don't care about. And we can tell. Or that they're not actually an expert in. And we can tell. So what are you the person who all the moms at the school come to for? Maybe you make custom fun T shirts for all the time or you have the best cookies for the bake sale. Are you the realtor who not only do you sell homes, but people know that you know all the hot spots in your city to go to or you know all everything about all the latest developments and things like that in the area? Are you a health coach who's known for their whatever you have some workout that you swear by that you've coined that's yourself. What is it that if someone called you tomorrow or right now and was like, hey, we are doing a segment on Blank, we need you there and what is it that you would be like, cool, and I'm going to talk about it forever. Right. That you can't shut up about. Because I'm telling you when you get on social and you start talking about something that you can't shut up about, we're going to feel it and we're going to love it for you and for us. Okay, so I have a couple examples in the show notes. And you can tell like this guy talking travel tips is hyped. You can tell the girl talking style is hyped. And the Doctor talking about a migraine hack is excited to tell you. I want you to watch them, okay? I want to beg you to watch them because the 1, 2, 3 ways that I saw their reels going crazy. I think they're all on TikTok too. One is a talk to camera, very professional. The other is a girl sitting in her car. The other is the guy just flipping the camera and showing his computer. All three of those could be featured on a news segment. I see it all the time because I watch the news every day. They feature other people's TikToks. They also do interviews. So as one, it was a little more polished like an interview. The other was something that I could easily see them pulling to put on TV to be like, hey guys, have you seen this? This is what is going on. The today's show especially features TikToks and reels all the time because they're talking relevant stuff. So I want you to ask yourself, what would they come on to talk to you about, number one and number two, how can you make it relevant right now? Right now is spring, if you're listening, in April, right? How could you talk about something in your field relevant to spring or relevant to summer coming up? Right? And what is something that you can't shut up about? Because if you can't shut up about it and you're excited about it, we are going to feel that and we're going to want to follow you because we're like, they're an expert. So watch those reels in the show notes because each one you can tell they are an expert in this. They know what they're talking about. And they're also, like I always say, borrowing words, phrases and brands that make us stop the migraine. Dr. I'm going to let it play just for a second so you can hear. Ready? Ready? Here we go. McDonald's migraine hack explained by neurologist I'm Dr. Jessica Lew. I'm a double board of neurologist and epileptologist. Again, watch it. 66,000 likes. So she used the word McDonald's because US average people who don't know anything about health are gonna be like McDonald's. That makes what she's sharing approachable and something that would be on a new show, the stylist. Ready. All the women that want their summer style to whisper in luxury and to not scream for attention. So then again, she's using the words luxury. So not just here's some style tips that's boring. Style tips that whisper luxury. How Beautiful is that. And then here's the travel tips person. Ready? It blows my mind that more people don't know about this. You should never call an Uber straight to the airport. Instead, take a. Again, he's talking casually in his house, giving you a quick what I always say the three S's, right? Simple, shareable and specific, right? He mentions Uber. That is a brand we know. If he just said travel, transportation, tip board, right? So again, words like luxury, words like McDonald's brands, we're borrowing. So the two big things I want you to take away from today's podcast, how to borrow popular phrases, words, brands, et cetera, that we know and love to get our attention and to come off as an expert. And of course, with this podcast, today I'm talking helpful content, right? It's not value is beyond tips, it's human connection. It's this and that. But today I'm talking helpful. I just want to make that very clear with the four H's. Just so you know. So typically when we are being asked to be an expert, whether it's an article and they need a quote or it's you've been asked to speak on a panel. What is that thing you're so excited you can't wait to talk about? That's what you need to talk about online. If you feel like right now your content feels bland, I want you to check back in with yourself and be self aware enough to say, I actually don't want to talk about that. I tell people all the time. And I said it on the podcast I was just on and we talked a lot about this. I was like, instagram comes out with a new feature thing all the time. There's so many things I could cover. If I'm not excited about that new feature or I don't care about it, I'm not going to talk about it. Even if it's in my niche and it doesn't excite me, I'm not creating a piece of content on it. Even if it's super popular, I know it would go viral. It's not interesting to me, so I'm not going to create it. I am so excited to hit posts. Every time I hit posts on a reel, I am so excited. And that's how I want you to feel too. So now I know I've talked a lot recently about like approaching social media as a content creator again. That's why people love the term comfort creator and content creator right now rather than travel advisor, travel content creator, because we want to follow someone who is passionate about what they do and you're sharing it because you want to share it. So take a moment. I will make sure to segue this into next week to give you guys some hooks based on all of this. Really check in with yourself this week and ask yourself what excites me? What do I love to talk about? What would I be so stoked that a radio show, a publication, someone reached out to you and said we want to do a two minute this. We need 60 words about this. What is it you would write? And let's create content around that. Check in with yourself. Have some fun on social media. Again, I can't bug you enough. Cause again it is the summertime. We are about to be the summertime. We are not going to create content that does not light us up because you're just going to get frustrated. So there you go. What is something you could talk about all day long and if that's not what your account's been about and you went another way because someone told you to, you can completely rebrand or find a way to segue why, what you've been talking about into something new that you've been talking about. There's a girl in my reels lab who she was teaching marketing and she's like, it just, it's not my thing. I'd rather talk about my weight loss journey I go than totally pivot because the people who are already following you probably want to follow that too or they can leave. I'm want to give you permission today. This is not so much of a teaching episode. It's like I want to give you permission to check in with yourself. Create content based on things that you actually care about and love. Don't feel like you have to niche so far down into something that you don't care about talking about. We're going to feel it. With that said, study those rails over in the show notes and next week we will get more into really tactical, practical things to take after you kind of have this check in moment. Just wanted to kind of regroup for a minute, especially after the podcast I was just on. I was like, man, we really need to talk about this stuff because I know if they're hearing it, you guys are feeling it too. So I love you, friend. Take a moment, check back in and I'll talk to you next week.