How to turn work materials into note articles | Creating content from memos, questions, and audio [Content for small businesses]
I don't know what to write on note.
However, when you are working, you get questions from customers, explain things, make decisions, and encounter things you want to save for later.
In this article, I will organize the mindset for picking up those materials from your work and turning them into note articles.
It's not about looking for special topics, but rather about saving what you already have and keeping it in a state where it can be turned into an article later.
I don't know what to write on note.
Hello. I am Tsuyoshi Watataru from Netarie.
I provide support for note content creation for small businesses.
"I don't know what to write on note."
I often receive this consultation.
But when I actually listen to stories about their work, there is almost no one who has nothing to write about.
You are being asked questions by customers.
You explain the same thing to new people every time.
You have reasons for being hesitant about a service.
You have things you noticed while working.
You have things that didn't go well.
You have reasons for deciding on your prices.
All of these things can be material for articles.
The problem is not that you don't have topics.
More often than not, it's that you haven't saved what was born during your work in a form that can be turned into an article.
You don't have to go outside of your work to find article topics
When you start creating content,
"I have to write something useful"
"I have to look for new information"
It becomes easy to think this way.
However, in small businesses, there is quite a lot of material within the work itself.
For example, things like this:
・Questions frequently asked by customers
・Things explained in inquiries
・Things that new people are likely to misunderstand
・Reasons for creating a service
・Reasons for deciding on fees
・Who it is suitable for, who it is not suitable for
・Decisions made when hesitant to accept a request
・Failures at work
・Things improved
・Reasons for changing tools or methods
・Analogies used when explaining to customers
・Things thought about while working recently
When you line them up like this, there are quite a lot.
Moreover, these materials contain the person's philosophy on their work.
Rather than general theories that anyone can write by searching online,
"This is how I make decisions in the field"
stories like this can sometimes serve as criteria for whether or not to hire that person.
Different materials are suited for different types of articles
You don't need to turn all the materials you pick up at work into the same format of article.
Depending on the material, there are articles that are better suited for it.
Questions asked by customers repeatedly
This is material that is easy to turn directly into an FAQ article.
"Is it okay if I'm a beginner?"
"What should I prepare?"
"How long does it take?"
If you are explaining these things verbally over and over, there is a possibility that others have the same questions.
Things that first-timers are anxious about
This is suitable for articles that people read before consulting you.
Things that are difficult to write on a service page alone,
"This is suitable for these types of people"
"I can handle up to this point"
"In this case, another method would be better"
content like this.
Decisions and hesitations during work
These articles convey your personality and way of thinking.
Why did you choose that method?
Why did you choose not to do it?
Where do you draw the line on what you will accept?
Writing about the background of your decisions reveals how you work.
Failures and improvements
These can be turned into practical articles or case studies.
There is no need to make a big deal out of the failure itself.
What happened, what did you review, and how are you doing things now?
Writing that much conveys your approach to work.
Insights that come to mind on the spot
It is useful to save these as short memos or audio recordings.
Even if it doesn't become an article on the spot, it may connect with other materials later.
You don't need to create a finished manuscript the moment you find a topic.
First, it is more important to save it in a form that won't disappear.
Keep questions in a 'Question Ledger'
Questions from customers are particularly easy to turn into articles.
When asked a question, you answer it normally on the spot and that's it.
However, if you save that question, it can become an entry point for an article later.
I call this collection of questions a "Question Ledger."
For example,
What was asked
The situation in which it was asked
How I answered at the time
Whether others might be confused by this too
What kind of angle it might take if turned into an article
I leave notes like these.
It doesn't have to be neatly organized from the start.
"I was asked this today"
is enough.
If the same question comes up two or three times, the priority for turning it into an article increases.
Sometimes it's faster to save thoughts on the spot using audio
Apart from questions,
"I want to write about this later"
is something I also think.
However, it is difficult to open a computer and write text while working.
In such cases, there is a way to save it using audio.
I don't really think about creating a finished manuscript using only audio either.
But it is quite convenient for saving material for articles.
For example,
"I was asked this question earlier"
"I answered like this"
"The other person was probably feeling anxious here"
"Something similar happened before."
"If I write an article, I want to include this story too."
Say things like that.
Even if it's just a few minutes, if you have it recorded this far, you can use it later.
The point is to record not just the conclusion, but also the reasons and specific situations.
"Profiles are important."
If it's just that, it's hard to turn into an article later.
However,
"Today, I was looking at someone's profile, and although their service seemed good, I couldn't tell what I could ask them for. The reason might be that instead of a job title, what they can be hired for wasn't written as a noun."
If you have at least that much recorded, it becomes material for an article.
Memos don't have to be written neatly.
When people hear about saving material for articles, some try to create organized memos.
But it's okay if they aren't organized from the start.
For example,
Today, I was asked about XX in an inquiry.
Maybe everyone is curious about this.
I was asked about it before too.
It could be made into an FAQ.
Even just this is material.
Or,
I explain this every time.
It's hard to write on the service page.
I might be able to write it as an article.
That works too.
Not as a memo for writing an article, but
Memos to catch things that might otherwise disappear during work
It is easier to keep going if you think of it that way.
If you assume you will organize it later, it is fine if it is messy.
AI can be used in the process of shaping materials into articles
If you have the materials left over, the process of turning them into an article can be made much lighter.
This is where you can use AI.
For example,
・Turning question memos into heading structures
・Organizing the content of voice input
・Summarizing similar memos
・Creating a draft of an article
・Checking for areas where explanations are insufficient
・Cutting out redundant parts
These are the kinds of tasks.
I also use AI for these processes.
However, rather than having AI create an article from nothing,
my main way of using it is to provide my own work materials and have it organized into a form that reaches the reader
is the focus.
The more specific the materials are, the closer the draft will be to that person's work.
Conversely, if you have almost no materials and just ask,
"Write an article for sole proprietors"
it tends to lean toward generalities.
Before using AI, save the materials from your work.
This makes a very big difference.
The person is the one who decides in the end
Even if AI can create a draft, it doesn't mean you should publish it as is.
A human needs to look at this.
"This phrasing doesn't match my sense of work."
"This specific example hasn't actually happened."
"I want to explain this part a bit more."
"It's better not to share this with customers."
"This story doesn't align with our current service policy."
These are the kinds of judgments to make.
Select the material to turn into an article.
Decide how much to write.
Verify the facts.
Translate it back into your own professional language.
Decide whether or not to publish it.
There is no need to leave this part up to AI.
Even at Netarie, we don't sell AI itself as the main product.
We use it as a tool to organize existing materials such as memos, questions, audio, and past articles.
What keeps you from stopping your content creation is a "system for saving" rather than a "system for writing."
In order to keep posting,
"I'll write one article every week."
"I'll write for 30 minutes every morning."
There is also the method of deciding to do so.
Of course, if you can keep it up that way, there is no problem.
However, for those who have a main job, there are days when you cannot secure time to write.
That is why I believe that before creating a system for writing finished manuscripts,
creating a system for saving materials
is better.
Save it when you are asked a question.
Take a memo when you notice something.
Record audio of what you have explained.
Save your documents.
Keep past articles as materials as well.
If you do that, you won't have to think from scratch when you find time to write.
Create a state where materials are accumulated.
From among them, turn what is needed now into an article.
This approach is better suited for content creation for small businesses.
For those who want to create articles from materials within their work
From here on, please read according to where you are currently stuck.
There is no need to read everything in order.
For those who want to turn customer questions into articles
I have summarized how to save frequently asked questions and turn them into FAQs or articles for pre-consultation.
For those who want to capture what comes to mind on the spot
Instead of writing a finished draft, this is a method of recording the reasons and specific situations via audio, and using them as article material later.
For those who want to know how to think about article creation using AI
Where to use AI and where humans should make decisions. I have summarized the article creation policy of Naterie.
Summary
I believe that sole proprietors and solo entrepreneurs probably don't struggle that much with article topics themselves.
If you are working, you will:
Be asked questions.
Explain things.
Feel hesitant.
Make decisions.
Fail.
Fix things.
Have realizations.
These things happen every day.
The problem is that they just flow away during work.
Therefore, the first thing to do is not to try hard to "write an article."
It is to record what was born during work in a form that does not disappear.
If it's a question, put it in a question log.
If it's an on-the-spot realization, put it in a memo or audio.
Keep documents and past articles as they are to use as source material.
Then, when you need them, organize them with the help of AI, and finally, make your own decisions to turn them into articles.
Once you establish this workflow, you won't need to think of ideas from scratch every time.
Start by saving just one thing you explained during work today.
That might just become the material for your next article.
If you would like to know more about Netarie, please take a look here.