The Power of Long Form Content: Visibility, Clients, and Creative Joy

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Did you know the very thing you love to create is also the key to growing your business, attracting dream clients, and standing out as an expert? In this episode of You Are The Magic, Christine DeHerrera shares how long form content—like articles, newsletters, podcasts, and even childhood essays—became the foundation of her thriving business. From writing poems about horses as a kid to landing PR clients on national television, nearly every major opportunity in her career has stemmed from long form content. And yes, it still works—especially now.

Christine reveals how her passion for storytelling turned into visibility, credibility, and income—and how the same is possible for you. Whether you’ve got a book idea, a blog you’ve neglected, a podcast on your heart, or a newsletter waiting to come alive, this episode will inspire you to go all in on your creative work. She also shares the three biggest reasons long form content still works—and why it’s so much more fun than just chasing trends and algorithms.

If you’re ready to create a magnetic body of work that positions you as a leader and opens the door to unexpected opportunities, this episode is your invitation to begin.

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Thank you for listening and just remember, you are the magic!

Episode Transcript

Christine DeHerrera (00:00):
I started creating long form content when
I was eight years old.
All the major opportunitiesI've had have come from my
long-form content.
This can happen for you too.
Welcome to You Are the Magic.
I'm Christine Di Herrera, andthe topic of this episode is
something I'm so passionateabout because the
synchronicities, the unexpectedconnections, the collaborations

(00:21):
I couldn't have cooked up evenif I tried have come from my
long-form content creation.
It's been so much fun, and Iwant this for you.
So let's dive in.

Picture this (00:32):
a scrawny, straw-haired girl completely
obsessed with horses, like overthe moon, out of her mind, in
love with horses, which wasawesome.
Except not a single person inmy family was a horse person or
even liked horses.
This was an era when it neverwould have occurred to my
parents to seek out a place forme to take a riding lesson, much

(00:53):
different from today's kids whoare in all the programs.
So I made do with trips to thelibrary, where I checked out
literal stacks of books abouthorses.
Couple of my big time favoritebooks that I read over and over
and over again from the librarywere Pony Care and Horse Keeping
on Small Acreage.
We had no acres.
I had no pony, but I lovedthem.

(01:14):
And of course, I also loved theBlack Stallion series and all
the books from Marguerite Henry.
Note, all those books I wasreading on my twin bed in my
bedroom, long form content.
Of course, all I really wantedwas a horse of my own.
So when I discovered a kid'sessay contest with the grand
prize being an Arabian horse, anactual Arabian horse, right?

(01:38):
Not a model horse, but anactual Arabian horse.
Obviously, I was going toenter.
This is back in the day when Iwas writing on paper and you
sent your essay by mail and youwaited for results by mail, the
entire time hoping the essaywasn't lost in the mail, or that
the letter announcing I was thewinner of the horse wasn't lost

(01:59):
in the mail.
Now, sadly I didn't win, butthe very act of writing that
first essay changed the courseof my life because I discovered
writing is fun for me.
Sitting down with a blank pageand finding my idea turned out
to be life-giving for me.
Now, the organization thatsponsored that essay contest
also had a publication aimed atyoung horse lovers, i.e.,

(02:21):
long-form content.
All of the insides of thatpublication were created by
kids.
This was a cornucopia ofopportunity for a horse-loving
kid who loved to write.
It started with poems, stories,articles, and book reviews.
All the dreams of horses andhorse life constantly galloping
through my brain now found theirway onto the page and into an
envelope.
I waited for every issue ofthat publication with

(02:44):
anticipation, like it wasChristmas Eve.
When the new issue finallyarrived each month in the
mailbox, and when I found myname, not once, not twice, but
three or more times in someissues, it was a feeling I'd
never experienced before, and Iwanted more of it.
I'd stumbled onto long-formcontent creation long before
anyone strung those four wordstogether.

(03:04):
Later as an adult, I wrotearticles for magazines, and I've
never gotten over the pinch memoments when I'm able to
interview an author or abusiness or a Grand Prix show
jumper headed for the Olympics,someone I'd previously only read
about or seen on the internet.
I was getting paid to research,read books, and even go to
horse shows or other really coolevents.

(03:26):
All the while my content wascreating credibility,
visibility, and some income.
But that's not what I wasthinking about as I worked my
day job.
I was just doing something Iloved as a passion project, and
secretly it was positioning meas an authority, an expert, and
it showcased my knowledge notonly of telling stories and
doing interviews and writingwell, but my ability to

(03:49):
understand the media landscape,how to position subjects and
build relationships.
Eventually, all this long-formcontent led to my first PR
client and then a thrivingpublicity and advertising firm
that was built 100% from myexpert status created by my
content.
I had clients on the MarthaStewart Show and in Woman's Day

(04:09):
magazine.
I got to plan fashion editorialspreads and travel to exciting
locations.
The business that started fromnothing but me following my
bliss generated a lot of moneyand opportunities beyond my
wildest imaginings.
My love for long-form contentdid not stop there.
I helped my clients writenewsletters, both award-winning
hard-copy newsletters anddigital newsletters starting as

(04:32):
far back as 2005.
I helped my clients build theiraudience, sell their products
and services, and develop brandcollaborations.
I even wrote articles forclients, including one that was
a top 10 most read article in2021, the year after it was
published.
Long form content has legs.
The ripple effect never ceasesto amaze me.

(04:53):
The collaborations, the growthof a message that becomes a
movement, the ability to beseen.
As a writer and storytellermyself, I continued my own
creativity.
I wrote a book, Fashion Fetish,which by the way is coming back
next year, and won awards formy young adult fiction.
Earlier this year, I startedthis very podcast.
I've gotten clients from it andadded people to my newsletter.

(05:15):
With long form content, youdon't have to be large and loud
to be powerful.
Long form content whispers andthe right people lean in.
Frankly, this just never getsold.
All of this to say, I freakinglove long form content, and you
should too, because you have allsorts of creative projects,
whether they are books,podcasts, articles, blogs,

(05:37):
newsletters, videos, films, andwho knows what else.
Now is the perfect time todouble down on your medium of
choice.
The world is hungry for truthtellers, visionaries, way
showers, trailblazers, andamplifiers of all things good
about life on planet Earth.
And of course, we all need agood laugh.
Plus, AI slop has created areal mess.
So human-made, original ideashave never been more in demand.

(06:00):
Your unique point of view ismore valuable than ever.
Here's why long-form contentmatters.
Number one, it builds your bodyof work.
This is a key tenet of mybusiness coaching philosophy.
A body of work is powerfulbecause this is what you're
known for.
Who would Brene Brown bewithout her books?
Or Oprah Winfrey without hertalk show and then her network?

(06:22):
Or Shonda Rhymes with Grey'sAnatomy Scandal, How to Get Away
with Murder in Bridgerton.
As an aside, did you watchShonda Land's The Residence?
If not, get yourself over toNetflix right away.
Think of any of your favoritepeople, and they probably became
a favorite because of theirlong-form content.
Number two, long-form contentcreates compounding

(06:42):
opportunities.
While you're out there makingthings, your next podcast guest,
media mention, or 10K clientsees your work and seems to come
from nowhere.
Number three, making long-formcontent is fun.
For real, for real.
There's joy in letting yourselflove what you love and create
something from it.
You get to go deep, you get tostretch out, you get to tell the

(07:03):
whole story, you get to letyour brilliance breathe.
And number four, there'sleverage you create with your
long-form work because you canbreak it into shorter pieces and
repurpose it everywhere fromTikTok to Pinterest to LinkedIn
to YouTube.
The possibilities are endless.
While short form content mightcatch their attention, long form
content changes their mind andmakes them into a raving fan.

(07:26):
So ask yourself, what's yourlong-form content game?
What's your platform of choice?
What would happen if you wentall in on that right now?
If you've been sitting on anidea that's perfect for long
form, now's the time to createit.
Or if you've already got a lotof long form content out in the
wild, it's time to leverage it,repackage it, make new
connections with it.

(07:46):
If all this sounds like loadsof fun, watch this space for
more information about my longform content group program that
will begin in the new year.
You can DM me on Instagram forall the details.
And if you're enjoying theshow, leave a five star rating
and review and share with afriend who's got a message worth
hearing.
Thank you for listening, andremember, you are the magic.