Stop Overthinking Your Content - Grow Your Local Business

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Stop Overthinking Your Content"

Podcast Information:

Title: Grow Your Local Business
Host: Leslie Presnall
Episode: Stop Overthinking Your Content
Release Date: May 6, 2025

Leslie Presnall, a local marketing expert and life coach, delves into the pervasive issue of overthinking content creation in her latest episode, "Stop Overthinking Your Content." This comprehensive discussion targets local business owners who find themselves paralyzed by the pursuit of perfection in their marketing efforts. Through relatable insights and actionable strategies, Leslie empowers listeners to break free from the shackles of overanalysis and consistently engage their local audience.

1. Understanding Overthinking in Content Creation

Leslie opens the episode by acknowledging a common struggle among content creators: overthinking. She defines overthinking as "when you think about something too much or for too long" (02:10). This often masquerades as careful planning or attention to detail but is fundamentally rooted in fear, self-doubt, and a desire to control outcomes.

"Overthinking is really a form of perfectionism... it's about fear and self-doubt and the desire to control the outcome." (02:30)

She emphasizes that while meticulousness can be beneficial, excessive overthinking hinders progress by preventing content from being published and receiving valuable feedback.

2. The Hidden Costs of Overthinking

Leslie explains that overthinking leads to stagnation in content creation, resulting in missed opportunities for engagement and growth. By not consistently putting content out there, businesses fail to gather the necessary feedback and data to refine their strategies and better connect with their local audience.

"If you're, we may not get the result that we want. So that could look like clients or engagement likes, comments. It would rather, our brain would rather not do it at all." (03:15)

3. Five Manifestations of Overthinking in Content Creation

Leslie outlines five specific ways overthinking can sabotage content efforts:

a. The Word Spiral

Content creators may obsess over finding the "perfect" word, leading to endless revisions without ever publishing.

"You think there is a perfect word that could make or break the post. So you sit and obsess over it. This is what I call the word spiral." (04:00)

b. Abandoning Posts

Starting a piece of content only to abandon it halfway, resulting in numerous unfinished drafts that never see the light of day.

"Another way overthinking could look like abandoning post... they're sitting there in your drafts." (04:45)

c. Pressure to Pick the Right Idea

Having too many ideas but fearing the selection of the wrong one, leading to decision paralysis and no action.

"You have lots of ideas for your content, but you're not sure which one is the right one to take action on... and you end up paralyzed and picking none of them." (05:20)

d. Stuck in the Not Good Enough Loop

Doubting the quality of one's ideas and fearing they won't resonate or convert, often tied to imposter syndrome.

"This is when imposter syndrome really shows up... Will this be the piece of content that converts them into clients?" (06:10)

e. Fear of Future Regret

Worrying that a current piece of content isn't perfect and fearing the need to redo it later if a better idea arises.

"What if I put this version out there now and I have a thought or a way to improve it later... I'm stuck in this cycle of overthinking." (07:00)

4. The Consequences of Overthinking

Leslie shares her personal experiences and observations, highlighting how overthinking not only hampers individual productivity but also delays business growth. She notes that excessive perfectionism can lead to content never being published, which in turn stifles audience engagement and business expansion.

"Content creation is not about getting it right. It's about staying in motion and staying in the creation." (09:30)

5. Embracing Imperfection for Growth

Leslie advocates for a shift in mindset from perfectionism to progress. She encourages businesses to prioritize consistency over flawless execution, emphasizing that feedback and data derived from published content are crucial for refining strategies and better understanding the audience.

"The more you can just get your work out into the world... you get feedback from it. The more feedback you get, the more you learn." (11:00)

6. Continuous Evolution of Messaging

Highlighting the dynamic nature of business and audience preferences, Leslie stresses the importance of continually evolving messaging and content strategies. She dispels the myth that content creation is a one-time task, asserting that it requires ongoing adaptation to remain relevant and effective.

"Your messaging isn't a one and done thing. It is ever evolving. You are always going to be evolving in your messaging." (14:20)

7. Practical Strategies to Overcome Overthinking

Leslie provides actionable tips to help listeners overcome the barrier of overthinking:

Accept Imperfection: Recognize that no content will ever be perfect and that publishing imperfect content is better than not publishing at all.
Set Time Limits: Allocate specific time frames for content creation to prevent endless revisions.
Focus on Action: Prioritize taking action over planning, understanding that feedback is a valuable part of the creation process.
Iterate and Improve: Use published content as a foundation for future enhancements based on audience responses.

8. Encouragement and Community Support

Towards the end of the episode, Leslie invites listeners to engage with her on Instagram to share their struggles with overthinking and to receive encouragement. She underscores the importance of community and support in overcoming personal and professional hurdles.

"Drop me a guilty in the DMs. I want to know something you've been overthinking that you're just ready to get out." (17:00)

Conclusion

Leslie wraps up the episode by reiterating the significance of moving past overthinking to foster business growth. She reinforces that consistent content creation, even if imperfect, is essential for building a steady stream of clients and becoming a local authority in one's industry.

"It's one tiny touch point that you're willing to put out there and test. You're just willing to get it out there and then tomorrow you're going to do it again." (16:30)

Listeners are encouraged to join Leslie's LocalPreneur Academy for further guidance and strategies to enhance their local marketing efforts.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

"Overthinking is really a form of perfectionism... it's about fear and self-doubt and the desire to control the outcome." (02:30)
"You think there is a perfect word that could make or break the post. So you sit and obsess over it. This is what I call the word spiral." (04:00)
"Content creation is not about getting it right. It's about staying in motion and staying in the creation." (09:30)
"Your messaging isn't a one and done thing. It is ever evolving. You are always going to be evolving in your messaging." (14:20)
"It's one tiny touch point that you're willing to put out there and test. You're just willing to get it out there and then tomorrow you're going to do it again." (16:30)

By addressing the multifaceted nature of overthinking and providing clear, practical solutions, Leslie Presnall equips local business owners with the tools needed to enhance their content strategy and achieve sustained growth.

Transcript

Leslie Presnell (0:00)

Hey, do you want to know what's possible for you when we work together inside the LocalPreneur Academy? Before you dive into this episode, I wanted to invite you to book a complimentary consult call with me so we can talk about exactly how your business will grow. And listen, I know hopping on a call can feel really intimidating. I've been there. I know it can be scary, I know it can be awkward, and I don't want you to feel nervous or pressured at all. In fact, I want it to be a really fun conversation. Let's like, seriously, how often do we get an hour just to talk about ourselves and our business to someone who actually wants to listen? I'll 100% lead the conversation so you don't have to be worried about being prepared or even knowing what to say. We're going to look at everything you're doing now to market yourself locally. Even if you don't think you are doing enough or it's not working at all how you want it to. We're going to figure out what's working and what's not working and why, and exactly what I'll do to help you inside the LocalPreneur Academy and how it will apply specifically to your unique business. And I know you likely have a lot of questions like how do I reach more people who live in my city? And how do I get people to stop scrolling and actually engage with my post? How do I get people to take action and reach out to book or buy? And we can totally cover this for sure. And anything else you can think of that's keeping you stuck. And I'll share how I can make the process easier for you to grow your local business. I've been there and I have helped so many local business owners do this work too. So click the link in the Show Notes to schedule your complimentary consult. Call with me and I will talk to you soon.

Podcast Announcer (1:44)

You are listening to the Grow youw Local Business Podcast, where local marketing expert and life coach Leslie Presnell shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients. All right, let's dive in.

Leslie Presnell (2:05)

If your drafts folder is more active than your actual feed, this episode is for you. I'm guilty too. If you're anything like me, one thing you may find yourself doing is overthinking your content. So that's what I want to talk about today and how it's slowing down your growth and not getting you the feedback and the data that you really need quickly in order to grow. So overthinking is really a form of perfectionism. I googled it and the definition of overthinking or to overthink is when you think about something too much or for too long. And I think overthinking can be kind of sneaky, especially in my case, which you may can relate to. But for me, overthinking can sometimes show up dressed as being like really thoughtful and like I'm really paying attention to the details or I'm really strategizing something or I'm really just giving myself time to brainstorm and really just think it through. But really it's about fear and self doubt and the desire to control the outcome. And when it comes to content, it's not wanting to put something out there or it's not wanting to put in the effort if you know you're not gonna or if you're not gonna get the outcome that you want. So really we have to override this part of our brain that's trying to protect us because it does not want to put in the hard work of content creation, of creating social media, posts, emails, whatever it looks like if we're, we may not get the result that we want. So that could look like clients or engagement likes, comments. It would rather, our brain would rather not do it at all. That's just much easier. But we're going to talk about why it's worth doing the work anyway. But first let's talk about what overthinking may look like for you in your business when it comes to creating content or social media or sending emails or if you're someone who does podcast or videos or workshops like whatever that looks like for you. So number one, overthinking may look like spinning over which word to use because you think there is a perfect word that could make or break the post. So you sit and obsess over it. This is what I call the word spiral. Like that's one way of overthinking. Another way. Number two, overthinking could look like abandoning post. So starting a post or a piece of content and then never finishing it because you decide it's not good enough halfway through. Or maybe you write the entire thing and you're. And it's just sitting there in your drafts. I'm going to raise my hand here, I'm going to call myself out if this is you too. We just have like the half done post graveyard happening the third way overthinking shows up. Overthinking your content could look like putting a lot of pressure on yourself to pick the right idea. And I'm using air quotes here. You can't see me. But you have lots of ideas for your content, but you're not sure which one is the right one to take action on and which one to create and post right now, and you think you may pick the wrong one, and then you end up paralyzed and picking none of them. The fourth way overthinking could show up is it could look like being stuck in a not good enough loop. So this is not wanting to put out content because you're not sure if your ideas are good enough yet. It's when that imposter syndrome really shows up. Like, you know, you know your stuff, but then you start to second guess. Like, is this good enough? Will this really show your expertise? Will your people resonate this? Will this be the piece of content that converts them into clients or that gets them to want to book or buy with you? The fifth way, and my favorite way to overthink is, but what if I have a better idea later? This is fear of, like, future regret or the fear of having to redo something. What if I put this version out there now and I have a thought or a way to improve it later, and I already put out this version of it. Oh, my goodness. Like, I shouldn't even tell you how many podcast episodes are on my to record list. And I'm stuck in this. This very specific cycle of overthinking. But we're keeping it real today. Sometimes we don't want to put our ideas out into the world because we think our ideas may not be fully fleshed out yet, and a better idea may come later. Better thoughts, better, more knowledge, like, whatever, better. We may be able to do it better later. But let me tell you, after 15 years of being a content creator and now a couple of years into podcasting and coaching, you can even. You can put your blood, sweat, tears into a post, into a podcast, into a video training workshop, email, whatever, and you can think, this is perfect. This is my best work. This is amazing. They're gonna love it. And you put it out, and then you look back at it a year later, two years later, even six months later, and you could see how you've already grown, how you already have ways you would change it, how you've already grown in your own expertise, in your own experiences, in your own knowledge. So of course there are things you would change, even on your best content, that you are the most proud of. There are so many podcast episodes Even my most popular podcast episodes that at the time I was like, this is it. This is my best work ever. And now I would probably cringe if I went back and listened to it. But my point is, and trust me, I am preaching to the choir here, Content creation is not about getting it right. It's about staying in motion and staying in the creation. You're always going to want to change, update, fix, add to tweak, redo, refilm, rewrite, edit. Even your best work that you are the most proud of at one time. I guarantee you go back and look on your Instagram or go back and look at an email that you were so proud of at one point you were like this is it. But I guarantee there are things in that post that you would change even today. So that means we could probably spend a little less time overthinking our regular non perfect, not quite good enough stuff and just put it out there. Because here's what happens. The more we can just get our work out into the world, our social media posts, our emails, our videos, trainings, workshops, any sort of marketing you do, you get feedback from it. The more you get it out there, the more feedback you get. You're able to see what type of content, what words, what phrases, what messaging resonates with your people and what doesn't. You're able to collect more data and more feedback the more you put out there. But we aren't able to get that if we stay paralyzed in the overthinking. Because typically overthinking leads to inaction and hiding in the form of not showing up in the form of not posting. We stay stuck in thinking about it in the brainstorming, in the word spiraling, in the in the half done post graveyards versus doing it and publishing it. We usually go and consume, see what other people are doing, saving their ideas versus creating our own and putting our own out there. We stay stuck in the not posting, the not sharing, not hitting publish, not hitting send, not doing the workshop, not doing the training. But your messaging, your content creation, your intellectual property, your marketing. It is an ever evolving journey forever in the lifetime of your business. I was recently talking to my coach about this because I have been reworking some of my own messaging this year just a bit and I noticed myself wanting to get it right and wanting it to be perfect before I started putting anything out there. And I wasn't making myself make any decisions, I wasn't writing the content, I wasn't updating my website or I wasn't making the trainings. I was letting myself just stay in the overthinking really, and in the brainstorming phase. And I went to her and I was like, why am I still dealing with this? I'm like years into my business, like, this should not be a thing, which is a total thought error on my part, by the way. That was just the thought my brain was giving me, which is totally not true because it's always a thing. We are always reconnecting with our ideal client and tapping into who they are, how they're changing, how we're changing, how we're helping them, what they want and how we're helping them get what they want, what results were helping them get and what that looks like and what transformation looks like for them and the impact on their life. We never stop doing that work. And the more experience we have, the more clients we work with, the more dialed in we get and the more even that shifts and evolves and changes. And I think sometimes we think that doing that work is a beginning of business exercise. Like that's work you do when you first start your business. I even recently talked to someone, one of my students inside the localpreneur Academy, and she told me that she skipped a few of the lessons inside of the academy, which were all about your local ideal client and decline and defining who your best client is. Like, I have all these exercises to help you get really clear on who they are and where they are. And it's really eye opening and provides like so much clarity. A lot of my students tell me they've never done ideal client work like this before. And she told me she skipped it because she's done that work before. And I was like, no, like go back and do it. Do it once a year, like if not twice. But anyway, we're just never done doing that work. But when I was talking to my coach about working on shifting my own messaging a bit, and it wasn't a major shift in messaging by any means, but I just noticed myself thinking I shouldn't still be dealing with this. As a business owner multiple years into my business and someone who teaches marketing, I was like, I should have this figured out. I shouldn't still be doing this. And that's when I was like, wait. That's when I'm like, hello brain. All these thought errors you're giving me, I was like, wait, Your messaging isn't a one and done thing. It's not something you decide once and then you're done forever. It is ever evolving. You are always going to be evolving in your messaging. So when you start to overthink and over analyze that one social media post or that one email, or that one piece of content, just remember it is one thing in an entire body of work that you're creating or an entire feed social media feed that you are building. It's one tiny touch point. It's one little thing you're willing to put out there and test. You're just willing to get it out there and then tomorrow you're going to do it again. You're going to learn so much faster that way. You're going to have so much less resistance to creating content that way. It's going to make you faster in your content creator creation and you'll spend less time overthinking. Really? Let me get this one thing out just so I can test it. You'll spend more time thinking about your ideal client and what you can say to them today. Okay my friends, if this episode called you out in the best way, I was calling myself out too. I want you to come find me on Instagram. Leslie Presnell I've linked it in the show notes too and drop me a guilty in the DMs. I want to know something you've been overthinking that you're just ready to get out. After this episode, I would love to be able to cheer you on. Okay, have a great week and I will talk to you soon. Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode, I want to invite you to check out my program, the LocalPreneur Academy. This is the only program for small business owners who want to become the local go to in their industry with a steady stream of clients. You can find more information@lesliepressnell.com and I'll see you inside.