From Blog to Video: Automating Content Repurposing with AI

A better title for this post will be; "From Procrastination to Innovation: The Birth of Hashclips" 🤣🤣🤣

The Background

For as long as I can remember, I've been a wellspring of ideas, my mind constantly buzzing with thoughts and concepts I've wanted to share with the world. Yet, time and time again, I found myself falling into the same old trap. "This week," I'd tell myself, "this week I'll finally start that blog." But as surely as the sun rises, another week would pass, and my grand plans for blogging would remain just that – plans.

It wasn't for lack of trying. I'd sit down, fingers poised over the keyboard, ready to pour my thoughts onto the digital page. But something always held me back. The process of organizing my ideas, crafting them into coherent paragraphs, and then polishing that writing until it shone? It felt overwhelming, almost insurmountable. Writing, I realized, had become my personal Everest – a challenge I continuously set for myself but never quite managed to conquer.

This struggle led me down a different path. I found solace in podcasts and videos, mediums where ideas could flow more freely. There was something liberating about speaking my thoughts aloud, even if it required some level of organization. The pressure of formal writing lifted, and I felt my creativity soar. But this solution brought with it a new set of challenges. How could I repurpose any written content I did manage to create into these more comfortable formats? The idea of doubling my workload, first writing and then converting to video, was enough to send me running back to my comfort zone of unshared ideas.

The Eureka Moment 💡🔦

It was during a late-night brainstorming session for the Hashnode hackathon that the lightbulb moment struck. As I pondered over potential project ideas, my mind wandered to my own struggles with content creation. I thought about how difficult it would be for someone like me, who can barely convince themselves to write a blog post, to then turn around and create a video version of that content. And then, like a bolt from the blue, it hit me – what if AI could bridge that gap?

That's how Hashclips was born. I envisioned a tool that could take the heavy lifting out of content repurposing. A service where you could simply drop in a link to your Hashnode blog post, and voila! Out comes a video version of your content. No more wrestling with video editing software, no more hours spent recording and re-recording voiceovers. Just your content, transformed and ready for a whole new audience.

Now, Action! 👨🏾‍💻

But bringing this vision to life was no small feat. I dove headfirst into a world of APIs, AI models, and video generation tools. The Hashnode API became my new best friend, allowing me to pull in blog content with ease. GPT-4, accessed through Azure OpenAI, took on the role of my personal scriptwriter, turning blog posts into engaging video scripts. Reveal.js stepped up to create visually appealing presentation slides, while Eleven Labs and OpenAI Whisper battled it out for the title of best voiceover generator.

Tying all of these elements together was a challenge in itself. I opted for a Next.js app, beautified with Shadcn and Tailwind, aiming to create an interface so intuitive that even the most technophobic blogger could use it with ease. Every line of code I wrote was driven by a single goal: to make content repurposing as painless as possible.

Significance? Relevance? 🤔

As Hashclips began to take shape, I couldn't help but reflect on the journey that led me here. My own struggles with writing had pushed me to create a tool that could help not just me, but countless other content creators facing similar challenges. It was a reminder that our greatest innovations often spring from our most persistent pain points.

But Hashclips is more than just a solution to a problem. It's a bridge between mediums, a tool that encourages creators to expand their reach without expanding their workload. It's about making content more accessible, allowing ideas to flow freely between written word and spoken voice, static page and dynamic video.

No Smooth Seas ⛵🌊

Of course, no journey is without its bumps in the road. As I developed Hashclips, I encountered challenges I hadn't anticipated. How could I ensure the AI-generated scripts captured the essence of the original blog post? How could I create videos that were engaging without being overly complex? And how could I navigate the murky waters of content attribution in this brave new world of AI-assisted creation?

These questions drove me to continually refine and improve Hashclips. I spent countless hours tweaking the prompts, and soliciting feedback from friends and fellow creators. Each iteration brought new insights and new opportunities for enhancement.

The Future Is Exciting! 😃🚀

As I stand back and look at what Hashclips has become, I'm filled with a sense of pride, yes, but also of excitement for what's to come. This is just the beginning. I envision a future where Hashclips can handle even the most nuanced content, where it can generate videos in a variety of styles to suit different brands and personalities. I dream of expanding beyond Hashnode, of creating a tool that can turn any written content into engaging video with just a few clicks.

But more than anything, I'm excited to see how other creators will use Hashclips. Will it empower more people to start blogging, knowing they can easily repurpose their content? Will it help existing bloggers reach new audiences? Will it spark new forms of creativity we haven't even thought of yet?

Interesting Realization

As I wrap up this post – the longest piece of writing I've managed in quite some time, I might add – I can't help but appreciate the irony. In creating a tool to help with my writing struggles, I've found my voice as a writer. And isn't that the beauty of innovation? Sometimes, the solutions we create for others end up helping us in ways we never expected.

Get Onboard 👋🏾

So, to all my fellow procrastinators, to all the idea-rich but time-poor creators out there, I invite you to join me on this journey. Give Hashclips a try. Drop in one of your blog posts and watch as it transforms into a video. Share your feedback, your ideas, your dreams for what this tool could become. Because while I may have built Hashclips, its future will be shaped by the creators who use it.

Who knows? Maybe the next great content revolution is just a click away. And maybe, just maybe, it'll help you fall in love with creating content all over again – in whatever form that may take.

Seriously, now...

Take Hashclips for a spin here: https://hashclips.vercel.app/

The GitHub repo is here: https://github.com/kwesinavilot/hashclips

Connect with me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrews-kwesi-ankomahene/

...and here too: https://x.com/kwesinavilot