Ep 38. Make Content Creation Feel Easy and Fun, with Michelle of By Hello Lemon
Nourish Your Brand · Episode 38
Today I've got another guest pulling up a seat at the table: Michelle, better known as By Hello Lemon, a social media content strategist on a mission to help business owners turn content creation from a dreaded chore into something that feels easy and fun.
We chatted in person (it's on YouTube if you'd like to watch), and got into why social media doesn't have to be your whole strategy and how to make content feel like a creative outlet. Let's get into it.
Social media is one part of your business
Michelle's biggest shift: ask how social media actually fits into your business. A lot of people are on it just because everyone is, but it's one part, the top (sometimes middle) of your funnel, a place for people who aren't already in your world to discover you.
If it isn't bringing what you hoped and you prefer networking or PR, you don't have to be on it. Once you know why you're there, that becomes your guiding point for every post.
Treat content as a creative practice, not a checklist
When you shift social media from a checklist to a creative practice, it feels lighter. You're putting yourself into the B-roll, turning thoughts into visuals, exercising your creativity. It's also a two-way conversation, never a broadcast, so you get to hear what your community cares about. And it's an ongoing experiment: you won't be good instantly, it's all in the reps. The more you talk about something, the better you get at it.
A note on numbers: they're fine as a guiding point, but don't pin your worth on them. People absorb a great post and move on without double-tapping. Trust that they're watching, and that when someone recommends you later, they'll binge your profile.
Infuse your personality (content conversations)
With 10,000 people able to do what you do, the only thing that differentiates you is you, your personality, voice and the things you care about. Michelle builds "content conversations" from her clients' personalities (a client who loves gardening turned that TLC into her whole way of working, and finally felt like herself in her content).
She works to a structure, because she doesn't believe in brainstorming without boundaries, but a "conversation" is more flexible than a rigid "theme": it's POV-infused, with ten or so things that live under each one. (This is a lovely parallel to branding themes, the same idea I cover in Episode 42, and exactly the kind of through-line my free Knead a Theme challenge helps you find)
Structure and boundaries make it easier
Michelle loves structure as much as creativity. She plans her month at a high level, checks in on Fridays, and batches her execution on a Sunday.
The exact workflow is personal, she can't prescribe yours, but having key conversations as your foundation plus a micro day-to-day structure makes everything easier. (It's the same logic as brand guidelines, decide the system once so you're not reinventing it each time, which is the consistency work inside the Brand Kitchen) Structure and ideating from a clear grid is exactly what her offer Served Hot is built for.
When you're bored: audit and collaborate
Feeling stuck? Audit your process and find the pain point, are you busier and need to cut a post, or bored of the same format and itching to try something new? (That's what her workshop Clear the Chaos walks people through.)
Her other reignite-the-spark tip is collaboration: working on a reel or live with someone in an adjacent industry brings new things to the surface (a collab pushed her into talking-head reels she now makes all the time). And use social media as a user too, comment, reply, be human. It's a conversation.
Ask yourself this week
Do you actually know why you're on social media, or are you posting on autopilot?
What's one content conversation that's genuinely you?
When you're bored, do you audit your process, or just drag your feet?
About the guest
Michelle is the social media content strategist behind By Hello Lemon, helping solo entrepreneurs make content the easiest part of their business. Her offers include Served Hot (a structured ideating offer) and her Clear the Chaos workshop. She's also the friend who suggested I turn my brand kits into an advent calendar. Find her on Instagram and Threads at @byhellolemon.
Related episodes
Ep 7: Why brand impact takes time (slow and steady wins)
Ep 42: How to theme your brand with purpose (Theming Part 1)
Ep 28: How to create brand traditions your audience looks forward to
Resources mentioned
By Hello Lemon on Instagram: @byhellolemon – plus her Served Hot offer and Clear the Chaos workshop
Knead a Theme challenge – my free challenge to find your brand or content through-line
Come say hi on Instagram: @studiocoya
About the host
I'm Aiza, the brand chef behind Studio Coya, a branding studio with a food-themed twist. I help established coaches, creators and service providers brand their signature offers so their best work looks as good as it actually is, and sells like hotcakes.
