7 Actionable Steps To Thrive in The Creator Economy.
The race to the top is underway. How can you outlast and outperform your competition?
Creators are everywhere. Medium, LinkedIn, Quora, Youtube, everywhere is buzzing with opportunities for creators who can follow through. There are so many platforms and so many opportunities that the mind gets dizzy with possibilities. Will putting your finger in too many cookie jars be your undoing or is it the requisite step to take to diversify.
- Don’t obsess over a niche. ?
- Get comfortable with the void. ?
- Become a headline factory. ?
- Consume more content. ?
- Show up consistently. ?
- Relationships and content. You need both. ✅
- Focus on what’s in it for them. ?♀️
This kept me stuck for so long. I was constantly told that the only way I could create was by existing inside a niche. You won’t know what you want to write about until you’ve tried writing about it. End of.
Actionable step: Brainstorm 3 column bucket/pillars that you think you might want to create content for. Start creating and see how those buckets change. Are they too broad? Too narrow? How do they fit together? Are there other buckets you want to add?
There will be times in this journey where you are sending work into the void. It’s humiliating, it’s infuriating, it’s soul-destroying… but it ends. And when it ends, you will never wonder how to cross that gulf again.
Actionable step: Tim Denning inspired this one: write 100 posts. Don’t worry about engagement stats. Just focus on developing a Creator Muscle™ by doing the reps and putting products into the world.
This is the best content advice I’ve ever gotten. If you think in terms of headlines, you will never run out of things to say. Get religious about writing down every headline idea that comes through your head.
Actionable step: Create a list of headlines/topics ASAP. It can be as simple as a Google Doc or Notes on your phone. The key is that you can view it on Desktop or Mobile if you’re walking around. Low-tech solutions like notepads work as well. Simply write down every headline that comes to your head.
In order to help you facilitate more headlines and more content, it’s helpful to consume more content. This is essentially your most important writing habit, and it doesn’t involve writing. ?
Actionable step: Find authors and YouTubers who write about topics you’re interested in. Just search for keywords related to your topics and see what resonates. As you consume more and attune yourself to what’s out there, you’ll start to get better (and faster) at doing this.
I don’t want to set an expectation that causes you shame. At the time of writing, I’ve shown up 21 days in a row. I post content 7-days a week. Non-stop. That cadence might be unrealistic for you. Hell, it might be unrealistic for me. The point is, pick a cadence and stick to it. I vote at the beginning you make that cadence larger than you think it ought to be.
Actionable step: Pick a cadence. 3 days a week. 5 days a week. Once a week. Whatever it is just stick with it for a while and make it non-negotiable.
Posting great content and hoping just isn’t enough. So many folks think it’s about two things: either they create a perfect post and wait for the magic to happen, or they spam their content non-stop everywhere and anywhere.
Actionable step: Spend an hour a day finding articles to comment on. A lot of articles say 15 minutes, and they recommend you target certain accounts. But just do what feels right. I vote you frontload your energy
Why are you reading this? Because I have something you want to know. This applies to almost every type of content across the board.
Actionable step: Pass every post through a “so-what” filter. What’s in it for the audience? What’s their takeaway? Why ought they care? If you can’t answer these questions, perhaps it’s worth starting again.
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