Over the weekend, I saw Toy Story 5, which I highly recommend. You will probably cry.

While sitting through the obnoxious amount of ads and previews (about 30 minutes’ worth and enough that all three of my kids asked, “when will the movie start?”), I noticed something about the movies. Many of them were covering a lot of similar themes:

1. Going to a faraway land
2. Keeping your memories
3. Remembering childlike play
4. Feeling nostalgia

Further, I was able to see the threads of other movies in these new ones. Similar stories, new audiences.

We’re seeing the same thing with what are largely believed to be the two summer blockbusters: The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Characters and stories that have been repurposed for a new medium, audience, and generation. Brand New Day is loosely based on the comic story arc from nearly 20 years ago.

Last week I mentioned how you can effectively repurpose. But what I didn’t mention was that repurposing can also be iteration.

Repurposing the Same Idea

You have a kernel of an idea, and you can repurpose it for different audiences, using different analogies, or just rephrasing it slightly to make it land better.

That’s what all of the movies above have done. That’s what West Side Story did with Romeo and Juliet. That’s what O did with Othello. And that’s what you can do too.

Here’s an example: I’ve been preaching the idea that “faster isn’t better, it’s just faster.” The argument for a lot of people using AI for things they shouldn’t use AI for is just that: “Well, it lets me do it faster.”

I’ve repurposed this idea several times across my newsletter, blog, talks, podcast, and social channels. I’ve changed the delivery slightly each time, finding new analogies or ways to make my point land, including:

• Talking about rushing a throw in baseball (trying to make the play faster than you need to) leads to more errors, not fewer.
• Cooking an egg as fast as possible doesn’t lead to a better-tasting egg. It leads to a burnt egg.
• One I just thought of right now: would you rather have sushi from a sushi restaurant or a fast-food place?
• My favorite one: you can skydive without a parachute to do it faster. But you won’t find anyone who said when they did it, it was better.

The point is this: reinventing the wheel every time you create content is time-consuming. I think it’s necessary to come up with new ideas and new content, but every piece of content you create shouldn’t be new.

I just spent weeks writing a near 10,000-word resource for solopreneurs. You better believe that’s getting repurposed. It’s probably going to power 90% of my content this summer.

Newsletters that turns into lots of different content

These articles (which start as my newsletter) usually get turned into podcast episodes and LinkedIn posts. They also serve as inspiration for YouTube videos. But in each instance, I’m also iterating on the idea. Reading this newsletter verbatim wouldn’t make a good podcast episode. It would make an even worse YouTube video.

So I need to repurpose, but I also need to mold it for the medium and the audience. Just like someone reading The Odyssey on screen wouldn’t be a summer blockbuster. It would likely be unwatchable.

Can you Repurpose More?

As we approach July, I want to borrow an idea from my friend Austin. Think about the content you’re creating for the month or the next few months; how much of that is new? Can you make even 10% of it repurposed?

And if you need help, I’m cooking something up — a system that will make it so you’re only spending 2 hours per week on your content. Interested?

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